Aromatic Finger Paints

Aromatic Finger Paints

One of the most fun activities for kids is finger painting. There's something about that cool, wet paint on a piece of paper that brings out your inner Picasso!

I decided to make homemade finger paints with an aromatherapeutic twist. A simple paint with some essential oils added in for a little bit of extra pizzazz. Bonus points for the fact that the oil I used is known to calm little ones! I'm also totally excited to say that I know exactly what is going into these paints.

Here's what you need:

1/2 C, Flour
1 C. Water plus additional cold for getting to the right consistency
Lavender Essential Oil
Food coloring
Salt

First of all, I'd recommend that Mama or Daddy makes the paint beforehand to avoid any curious little fingers getting burnt! :)

 

To make the paint:


Place your flour and water into a large pot over medium heat on your stovetop. Stir it until it starts to come up from the pan. Take off the stove and stir in additional cold water until your paint reaches the consistency you'd like. We made a thinner paint and used about 1/2 C. of extra water.

Divide your paint into bowls. Your amount of bowls depends on a number of colors you want. Stir a few drops of food coloring into each bowl until you get your desired color and add a pinch of salt.

Last, add a drop of lavender essential oil to each bowl and stir.

See how easy that was?

We like to use these paints on paper and even on a cookie sheet or a highchair tray. They are a great sensory activity for little ones and a great art project for big kids. We've even packaged them in jars before and given them to families as Christmas gifts. The possibilities are endless.

You can store any leftover paint in the fridge. I would say this paint keeps for about 2 months.

What was your favorite art project as a child?
October 14, 2016 by Catlyn Hoepner
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