How to Make Infant Finger Paint
Infants cannot draw with regular paints even though they may be nontoxic because they put everything in their mouths. What most people use for finger painting at this age is edible food smooth enough to be used for drawing. There are a few foods that work particularly well and a few well-rounded recipes.
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Things You'll Need
- Vanilla pudding or plain Greek yogurt
- Food coloring
- Light corn syrup
- Liquid food coloring
- Bowls
- Baby food in jars (berry, apple banana, spinach)
- Blender
- Beet
- Strawberries
- Carrots
- Banana
- Blueberries
- Spinach
- Powder sugar
- Corn flour
- Condensed milk
- Vegetable juice
- Fruit juice
- Jelly powder
Instructions
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1
Put 1 tbsp. of vanilla pudding or plain Greek yogurt in different bowls and add food coloring to each bowl.
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2
Buy baby food in jars, including berry for red, apple banana for yellow and spinach for the green edible paint. Add a few drops of food coloring to make the colors more vivid.
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3
Place 1 tbsp. of corn syrup in separate bowls and add a few drops of food coloring to the corn syrup, each bowl with a different color. Mix with your fingers.
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4
Extract concentrated colors from beets, strawberries, carrots, bananas, blueberries and spinach separately. Blend the vegetables or fruits in a blender separately with a few tablespoons of hot water. Let stand for a few minutes. Strain the juice from the pureed food. Add 6 tsp. of powder sugar to 1 tbsp. of the juice.
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5
Stir 4 tbsp. of sugar with 1/2 cup of corn flour and 2 cups of water and heat the mixture over medium heat. Wait until the mixture thickens, let it cool, then divide the mixture into several bowls and add a few drops of food coloring in each bowl.
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6
Pour 1 tbsp. of condensed milk into bowls. Pour a few drops of fruit juice in each bowl to obtain various colors. Choose vegetable juice or fruit juice from the baby aisle to get different colors.
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7
Add boiling water slowly to jelly powder (made from seaweed) until it reaches the desired consistency. Keep stirring until the mixture cools down. Separate the jelly into bowls and add a few drops of food coloring in different bowls.
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Tips & Warnings
Try finger painting with your child in the bathtub or in a high chair before your child's bath to avoid the mess.
Some alternatives to food coloring are cherry, raspberry or cranberry juice for red; blueberry juice for blue; turmeric or saffron for yellow.
Check your local health food store; they may carry vegetable-based food coloring.
Watch your baby carefully for food allergies.
Avoid commercial finger paints and use only organic food coloring. The dyes in all major companies that manufacture finger paints are made from chemicals. According to the Feingold organization, blue 1, blue 2, red 3, green 3, yellow 5 and yellow 6 may cause cancer and tumors.
Gelatin is not a good substitute for yogurt or pudding. According to doctor Christine Gerbstadt, "What the baby ends up eating is nearly all sugar, artificial color and artificial flavor and a trace amount of gelatin to make it wiggly."
Light or dark corn syrup is often used to relieve constipation in babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns about the potential risk of botulinum in babies given nonpasteurized corn syrup.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Ryan McVay/Valueline/Getty Images
