Toddler Art with Flour Paint

After his very first craft a few weeks ago {check out his Pumpkin Suncatcher – it’s super cute}, I thought N might be ready for his first art activity.

For paint, I definitely wanted something taste-safe. I initially thought about yogurt paint, but I really didn’t want paint that actually tastes good. I settled on homemade flour paint with food coloring: Simple, completely taste-safe, but not particularly tasty.

(N was 1 year and 2 months old.)

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Materials for Toddler Art with Flour Paint

• Flour.
• Water.
• Food coloring. {I used gel food coloring and was very happy with how vibrant the flour paint turned out with very little coloring. Regular food coloring will work, too, or you can use liquid watercolors if your paint doesn’t need to be taste-safe.}
• Cups to hold the paint.
• Paintbrush(es) (optional).
• Cardboard to paint on.
• Shower liner or similar to cover the ground (optional).

I decided to make two colors only, and just a small amount of each. I used one heaping tablespoon of flour for each color and added a little more than 2 tablespoons of water each. I added color by stirring the flour paint with a toothpick I’d stuck into the icing colors. That’s how little it took. The recipe is incredibly forgiving, just get it to a consistency that will spread easily but isn’t too watery.

N liked it a lot. He even started using the foam paintbrushes I’d provided right away. On the cardboard!

Of course, it all turned into a sensory activity quickly.

He never actually painted his body, but he still managed to get very … uhm … colorful 🙂

In between his sensory exploration, he kept going back to painting with the paintbrush.

It was equal parts toddler art and messy sensory activity. Really messy 🙂 We both loved it!

Check this out: Not only did I get a beautiful vibrant yellow and blue, they mixed to a gorgeous green!

I honestly anticipated some staining since I used food coloring, but the paint actually came out very easily.

At what age did your kids start doing art activities? Have you tried flour paint? Leave a comment below!

Looking for more about homemade paint?

Learn Play Imagine has a flour paint recipe that also includes oil.

Tinkerlab adds salt and paints with squeeze bottles.

I also have a few other homemade paint recipes (not as toddler-friendly as this one).

 

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