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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Edible finger paint experiment

I have been wanting to try making edible finger paint since reading about it in Amy's Notebook entry. Since Sweetpea is still at the age where everything looks edible, I haven't given her any finger paint to play with.

We tried this last week when EmDee was working overtime and it was just the two of us. Since we were a bit short handed, I thought it would be a good idea to make them as soon as we got home for the day. That way Sweetpea could play with the paints in her highchair while I washed some dishes and made dinner. This worked out very well, but she ate more of it than she might have otherwise.

When we try this again, I'll make sure it's after dinner. One thing we discovered as a result of this experiment is the finger paint makes a delicious dessert when you scoop the excess up with a banana!

There are two totally different recipes to choose from, one from Notebook experiment 2/21/08 (with cornstarch) and one linked from last week's experiment here (with pudding). I chose the pudding recipe, because it sounded tastier. I also used about half the water to make the paint thicker. I added sprinkles for extra fun, and instead of having her paint on paper, I just scooped the "paint" right onto her highchair tray. Once she gets older I'll add more food coloring so she can work with some bolder colors. I was chicken, as you can see by the pastels in the following pictures!

This is definitely something we will try again, thanks for the inspiration, Amy!


As you can see, the first thing she did was taste it! I put on her Ikea long sleeved bib as a futile attempt to contain the mess. She actually did quite well with the finger paints, it was the spaghetti we had for dinner that got all over the place!


Ok, now we are starting to get interested in swirling things around a bit. Are those sprinkles on the corner of your mouth, Sweetpea?!


Finally getting down to business. You'll notice, she's drawing one handed - definitely keeping the bink close by these days with her molars breaking through! Right after this shot, I got the "are you really going to keep clicking away with that thing, I'm trying to draw here!" look, so I put the camera away and got on with the process of making dinner.

Do you have any good tips or tricks for playing with finger paint? I'd love to hear them! For more fun experiments, check out Momadvice

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7 comments:

Amy said...

My daughter ADORES those pudding paints. I think that was a good choice for little ones that put everything in their mouth. I would have never thought to do sprinkles though- what fun!! We also use less water and it works better. The first time I did them it was more of a water paint consistency!

Thank you SOOOO much for participating!! I really appreciate it!

HeatherPride said...

Hey, I love this! And look - she totally made purple!! smart girl....

T with Honey said...

I did this with whipped cream when Princess was younger. She loved it but this pudding paint looks a little more paint-like. Sweet!

Anonymous said...

Great way to keep her occupied while you prepared dinner!

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

Mmm... at first I wasn't so sure about this but now you've got me craving! : )

Steph

carrhop said...

So cute!

We sometimes do peanut butter play-do--of course, only for kiddos with no peanut allergies. I got the recipe doing a google search--the kids love it and I don't have to worry if they (inevitably) want to stick it in their mouths!
Blessings!

Jenn said...

Sometimes the simplest ideas are beyond my reach! I never thought of this for my LITTLE one in her highchair! I could entertain BOTH kids with ONE activity AND cook dinner??!! LOL I will definately try this one next!! I also like the sprinkles!