Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Homemade Finger Paint

Okay, summer is here and I'm starting to get into the groove. It takes me a little while (just getting some laundry done and some clutter cleaned up is a top priority) but yesterday was good and we did an activity. These are homemade fingerpaints; I got the recipe here. These were fun to make with ingredients we had on hand, and they really worked!
Mixing the dry ingredients together.
After that we added the water and I cooked it on the stove. The mixture thickens nicely. Really, working with cornstarch is so satisfying, isn't it? The boys got to help again when it was time to color the mixture with food coloring.
At first they weren't sure what to do,
so I demonstrated on a separate sheet (which was fun, and I think it's important for us adults to play too. And I love this kind of "art" where there is no expectation of it being one particular way or another).
Then the boys really started getting into it.
Don't you love their young hands?
Even baby Rainer got the hang of it.
The finished paintings.
I was surprised--these dried nicely. I was afraid they'd stay wet and congealed, but they really did dry.
And now we have extra (stored in the fridge) for another day. I'm convinced these would make great tub paints too, and we may try that soon. For today, I want to try this--I think they'll love it.

Other summer goings-on:
::in an effort to have an early bedtime, I realize that we can't pack too much into the evenings. Taking an evening walk with the boys is a top priority for Ken and me, so I've moved bathtime to the morning. It's so much more relaxed!

::I'm reading this cookbook from the library. So fun to peruse. I love how he addresses just about everything you'd want to make and has developed a "master recipe" for each thing.

::we'll be celebrating summer solstice on the 19th (it's really the 20th this year) with our usual tea. I'm planning the menu--little sandwiches, little meat pies, deviled eggs, and maybe these, which look so yummy.

::the orange juice ice pops were a huge hit (shown in this post) and I whipped out another batch last night. I can't believe how delicious and healthy they are, and I love having a use for our navel oranges which are at the end of their season and need to be used up.

Editing to add: the leftover finger paint did not work at all. So use it all up in one go!

22 comments:

Gift of Green said...

MB - Did you mean to write "homemade finger pain"? In my house it would be a bit of a pain, but it looked like things went over rather nicely in your home.

Would you mind sharing your recipe for the little meat pies?

And finally, are you really posting at four in the morning?!

Unknown said...

haha I wondered too about the pain part!

Those paints just look purty! I wanna make some just to look at haha.

Mozi Esme said...

I will have to try this recipe! It looks like fun . . .

melissa s. said...

ooh this looks fun! i showed your post to holden to see if he wanted to try finger painting (yes!) but he was SO excited to see that dieter has his same favorite dinosaur jammies. he was a little worried at first that they were HIS jammies, but we got that straightened out :-)

Mary Beth said...

Ha--got the typo fixed. No, it really wasn't a pain at all--just fun. And no, I didn't get up at 4 in the morning this time (but sometimes I do--this time I just set it to post for me).

Amy said...

This looks so easy and fun! Hope you have fun with the sidewalk paint! It really was just oh so simple and Zoe just really loved it!

K said...

Mary Beth, I like your popsicle molds. Where did you get them?

Mary Beth said...

Amy--we are about to get started on the sidewalk paint project. I'm excited.
K-the popsicle molds are wonderful. I got them at our local chain grocery store--Vons. The brand name is Progressive. Hope that helps!

Kelli said...

I keep saying it but you are such an inspiration and have so much energy.

Kate said...

looks like you guys are having a fun summer so far! And I haven't tried it yet, but those orange juice pops are definitely on my to-make list, yum!!

Carrie said...

Wonderful! I like to make homemade playdough so I am sure I'd like to try this paint recipe!

periwinkle said...

the finger paint and sidewalk recipe look great, I'll definately have to remember these. The boys looked like they had so much fun
Lisa x

Meg said...

This looks like fun! I think even my eight year old could get into it--I think kids still dig a tactile experience like finger paint even at that age. Today was her last day of school, so we'll be getting into the summer groove soon.

I like how you've moved bath time. I decided not to fight the sun this summer--my kids haven't been to bed at a decent hour (meaning 7:30) since the clocks moved. I'm going to let them stay up until nine this summer, but they'll have a quiet time after lunch, and I'm hoping some before dinner swimming will wear them out!

Glad to see Rainer enjoying himself!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, how fun! Thanks for the recipe. I'm excited because my son isn't allergic to any of the ingredients! It seems a lot of homemade playdohs, paints, etc have flour in them, and that's no good for a wheat allergy.
Did your boys' every attempt to taste the paint? I noticed that there is sugar in the recipe and I can imagine my little guy trying to eat it. The kid is almost two years old and still puts everything in his mouth. The other day I had to fish out a snail! Yuck!

ames said...

That finger paint is so cool! And edible too, I guess. Have a happy solstice party tomorrow! Those canned croissants are so devilishly delicious...

Jessica said...

I love finger painting. It might be my most favorite thing to do in preschool! I'll have to save this idea for next year. As kids we always made orange juice popsicles. They always remind me of being a kid and running through sprinklers and doing generally kid-like things. Unfortunately, our oranges were never from our backyard. Thanks for your encouraging words to get me to the end of the school year!!

nikkishell said...

I was just thinking this morning that i need to get the girls some more paints. I'm going to make this instead and see how they like it.

Rachel said...

That looks so fun! And the paints do look almost jammy too, I'm going to check out that recipe. I think both my boys would enjoy this, getting really messy out in the garden! x

Rachael said...

What a great idea - I have never thought of making 'paint.' Must give it a go. Reading your blog is making me very sad that its winter here. Oh I miss the long hot days and the beach and the salads and the mango's and rasperries... Only 5 months to wait.

melissa s. said...

we tried these out, thanks for the info! i linked to you from my blog, hope you don't mind. next time i will get the recipe right :-)

Laura said...

My gang would love to finger paint! Great photos! and I love the tile counter in your kitchen!!!

viagra online said...

I used to make homemade finger paints when I was a kid, I remember that I had lot of fun for hours painting with my little fingers. Nowadays, I know that that is such a niece way to learn new things