DIY This Non-Toxic Finger Paint for Kids

Warning: While this recipe isn’t made with toxic ingredients, it does contain raw flour, which the U.S. Food & Drug Administration warns against eating. Keep a watchful eye on your child and a wet washcloth handy to clean off hands as you paint.

Save this recipe for edible baby finger paints.

Supplies You’ll Need

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup warm water
• food coloring
• bowls
• spoons or a whisk
• measuring cups

1. Mix the flour and water together.

Use warm water to help the mixture come together more easily. We used a whisk to get all of the lumps out. If you have older kids, this is a good step for them to help with.

2. Divide the flour and water mixture.

Pour the mixture into four bowls, cups or containers of your choice.

3. Add food coloring to each container.

We stuck with the basics, making our paints red, blue, green and yellow. That way we could talk about color mixing as we played, showing how red + yellow = orange and blue + red = purple.

Pro tip: We used only three drops of food coloring for each small bowl and still ended up with bright colors. If you go overboard with the food coloring, you may end up staining your fingers. But we promise it will wash off eventually!

4. Let your baby get creative!

Our little tester isn’t sitting up on his own yet, so we made this a tummy-time activity. You can use any type of paper, but we like finger-painting paper (like this one from Melissa & Doug). It’s glossy and non-absorbent, which helps the paint spread easily across it.

Pro tip: Let your baby paint in the high chair (as long as it’s easy to clean), lay down a waterproof splat mat, or make this an outdoor activity to keep mess and cleanup to a minimum.

Post-painting clean-up: Set out your artwork to dry, and be prepared to give your baby a bath after your art session. The flour-water mixture should wash out of clothes and off of floors, splat mats, etc., but it’s easiest to clean up with warm water right away. Happy finger painting!