by A Kairi

Created on: September 19, 2009

Kids have a ball using finger-paints, particularly toddlers and young children. Unfortunately the cost of commercial finger paints can add up quickly when you have multiple children or very young children who usually go through finger-paint at lightning speed. Some of the commercial varieties have other drawbacks as well such as formulas that can stain clothing and become very difficult to remove. Others contain ingredients that while they are non-toxic may still be something you do not want your child ingesting.

The following recipe is non-toxic, easy and inexpensive to make. It calls for only a few ingredients that most people can usually find in their kitchen so you can easily prepare a batch of finger-paint on the fly. The recipe is also a quick one to make.

To make this recipe you will need: a saucepan for boiling water, two cups cold water, 1/4 cup cornstarch, food coloring, a funnel and several small jars with lids (baby food jars are perfect).

Begin the project by gathering the necessary items and ingredients. If you choose to re-use jars for this project make sure to clean them with hot, soapy water and then soak them in a solution of 1 qt. hot water and 1/4 cup of baking soda for an hour. Then rinse them and allow them to dry. The baking soda solution will remove any residual odor from the jars so you won't end up with finger paint that smells like pureed liver or other baby food.

After obtaining the necessary items place the two cups of cold water and the 1/4 cup of cornstarch in the sauce pan. Mix the solution until it is relatively uniform. Then heat the mixture to boiling. Continue boiling the mixture over medium heat, while stirring it constantly until the mixture becomes thick. Then remove the pan from the heat.

Once the paint is finished, ready your jars. Funnel some of the paint in to each of your jars. It is now ready to color with food coloring. For every ounce of paint you will need 5 - 7 drops of food coloring, you may use a little more if you would like bolder color. Add the food coloring to the paint, one jar at a time. After adding the food coloring to each jar, screw the lid onto the jar tightly and then shake the jar vigorously until the color is well blended. If you wish to use a color that food coloring does not normally come in mix the food coloring in a separate container before adding it to your paint to keep the color uniform.

After you have finished adding the color to and shaking each jar your paint is ready to use. It will be non-toxic, so it is okay if a child gets some in their mouth (it doesn't taste good though so your child probably won't make a habit of putting it in their mouth). It is very easy to remove the paint from skin. It is also fairly easy to remove the paint from clothing, etc. so long as you launder the material in cold water directly after you are finished with the paint.

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