Toddler Activity: Homemade Paint

Until recently Lucas still put everything that touched his hands in his mouth, and this has made me apprehensive to do anything with paint.  Thankfully this is starting to not be as much of a problem, and I may be venturing into painting crafts in the near future.  So last week I made a batch of homemade paint from a recipe I found on Pinterest (1 cup of cornstarch, 6 tbs of sugar, 4 cups of water, and a pinch of salt, let it boil until it takes on the consistency of pudding).  I used a few sprinkles of red kool aid to colour the paint, stripped the kid down and let him discover.  Instead of using paint brushes, I cut, and prewashed a dish sponge. 

Unfortunately this wasn't a very successful foray into painting.  The paint takes on a very congealed consistency after its cooled, and it would stick to his fingers a little too much for Lucas' liking.  We ended up taking the bowl and playing in the bath tub with it, and he had a lot more fun that way, so maybe not a total fail.

A tip for a rainy day activity, and a way to contain painting messes, when your child still doesn't quite the grasp of a mess is let them paint in the tub.  I have done this a few times with Lucas, and he loves it, then when we are washing up I let the tub fill a bit so he sees the water colour; although be mindful that some paints have high quantities of dye and it won't be that easy to get stains out grouts, and little toddler feet! lol