Here’s a quick, simple natural finger paint you can make at home!
I love ideas that are easy + natural, because it gives us moms a simple way to instill love and interest for nature in our kids without a ton of effort.
Start with powdered, plant based ingredients that are vivid in color. If your ingredients are whole just dry them out in the oven on low for a few hours, then grind in a food processor or coffee grinder until desired texture is reached. Here, I’ve used:
- spirulina powder
- paprika
- turmeric
- crushed dried beets (I left them crushed and didn’t fully powder them because I wanted a variety of textures for this activity. But in general, the finer the powder, the smoother the paint)
Other plant based paint options:
- powdered dried blueberries, blackberries, or elderberries
- powdered dried carrots (or carrot juice)
- pomegranate juice (for juice, add a bit of flour to the recipe instead of water. See recipe below)
- spinach juice
- grape juice
Next Step: Add a few Tablespoons of Water
1 tablespoon at a time to each powder, until you have a runny paste, or until powder is completely saturated. (Again, if you’re using juice instead of powder, skip this step entirely, or add a sprinkle of flour to thicken a bit).
Next Step: Drizzle in Coconut Oil
Mix in Coconut oil, until you’ve reached a consistency you like. I tried different amounts of oil in each so that some paint wold be thick and scoopable, and some would be runny and slippery.
I presented this activity to Ember with the powders in various bowls, with a jar of water for scooping tablespoons, and a pourable vase of oil so that she could follow the steps to mix herself. This way the activity also becomes a lesson in following an order of operations. But if you’d like to keep it simple, just prepare in advance!
Set up somewhere easy to wipe or hose down, outside obviously preferred! Provide paper, utensils for mixing, and brushes for painting if your child doesn’t like getting their hands deep in paint!
Have fun with this, guys! If you love it, check out my other Spring Activities!