Simple Homemade Fingerpaint

Creating homemade fingerpaint is an activity children enjoy - they love finding out how things are made. On this page you will find two recipes that work for us: flour based and corn starch based.

Flour Based Homemade Fingerpaint

Ingredients

1 cup of flour
2 tbs of salt
1 1/2 cups of cold water
1 1/4 cups of hot water
Food coloring or powdered tempera paint

Equipment

Saucepan
Whisk
Small containers

Directions

1. Mix flour and salt in the saucepan.

2. Add cold water and beat with the whisk (or a rotary beater) until the mixture becomes smooth.

3. Add the hot water and place the mixture to boil until it becomes thick.

4. Beat the mixture again to get a smooth texture.

5. Divide the mixture to small containers and add food coloring or powdered tempera paint.

6. Keep in the fridge.

Cornstarch Based Fingerpaint Recipe

Ingredients

3 tbs of sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 cups of cold water
Food coloring
Liquid dish washing detergent

Equipment

Medium saucepan
Small cups
Spoon

Directions

1. Mix sugar and cornstarch in the saucepan over low heat.

2. Add water slowly and continue stirring until the mixture is thick.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Divide the mixture to the number of portions you like (3 to 5) in small cups.

5. Add a couple of drops of food coloring to each mixture along with a drop of dishwashing detergent.

6. Stir and let cool.

7. For best storage, cover the paints in airtight containers (I use our used and washed yogurt containers)

Paint Time

Materials

Feet (of all sizes)
Paint
Butcher paper

Directions

1. Use your feet and dip them in the paint.

2. Create foot steps with your feet.

3. How about your toy animals? what kind of foot steps do they leave behind?