Make & Do

Home Made Cornflour Finger Paint Recipe

This recipe for home made finger paint is adapted from one found online.

Ingredients

Method

1. Bring 3 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. (I usually boil it in the kettle first as it's quicker)
2. Mix the cold water and cornflour together in a bowl until smooth and lump free.
3. Pour the cornflour mixture into the hot water, stirring constantly.
4. Bring back to the boil, constantly stirring to prevent lumps. It will go very thick and start to go a little clearer.
5. Add the tablespoon of oil and beat in until thoroughly mixed and smooth - if you do not have sunflower oil any light coloured oil should work.
6. Divide into tubs (one per colour) preferably with lids as the air will dry it out.
7. Add several drops of food colouring to each tub and mix them well. Make sure you add enough colouring to make the finger paints vivid. You could also powdered poster paint if you have any.

Make sure the paint is stored in air tight containers in the refrigerator, as it will dry out if left open to the air.

We buy rolls of leftover wall paper from the charity shop for 25p and use the back of it to paint on. It's much better than craft paper for young children because it is so thick. The low cost means you do not need to worry about how much they are using either.

The paints washed off hands easily enough too, even the really dirty ones.

And the work of art...

The nice thing about wallpaper covered in coloured gloop is that it stays in one piece, even when it's being moved!

Wubbzy Ball / Humpfs Floppy Thing

This is another simple painting activity for toddlers. It gives them the opportunity to experiment with the paint brush by making lines and spots. They also have the opportunity to do a bit of colour mixing.

You will need paper plates, large paintbrush, a bowl for the paint, blue & white paints and protection for the table, the child, you, your walls, chairs and anything else remotely within reach !

• First the paper plate needs to be painted blue. This gives the child the opportunity to try and control the brush by painting lines across the plate until it is covered
• Whilst the plate is drying add some white paint to the bowl and let the child mix the paint together until they get light blue.
• Then they add the spots to the 'ball' using either their fingers or the brush.

This activity can also be used for Humpf fans. In one of the episodes his ball is punctured and ends up as "a floppy thing".

Paper Plate Birdy Bird Craft

Another simple but effective craft that allows toddlers freedom with paints. If your two year old, like mine, just wants to cover everything with paint, and doesn't really care what, then this is the craft for them. You will need one and a half plates to make one birdy bird.

1. Mix up one colour pastel paint (white with either a little red, blue or green in it).
2. Give your child a paintbrush and several paper plates on plenty of newspaper and let them get on with it
3. Leave the paper plates to dry whilst bathing your toddler.
4. During the next three days whilst you are still waiting for the paint to dry (well maybe not but my little girl goes rather overboard!) start to prepare the cut out shapes -
   You will need to cut out the following from coloured card, craft foam or construction paper.
   White circles with a black dot in the middle for the eyes, orange triangles for the beaks and black sticks for the legs
   
5. When the plates eventually dry, you will need to select a whole plate for the body and another plate to use for the tail and the wing.
6. Take the second plate and cut it in half, cut it in half again and reserve a quarter segment for the tail. Cut the other quarter segment in half again and reserve one piece for the wing. You should have similar shaped pieces to the ones shown below -
   .
7. We used double sided sticky tape (it's less messy than glue and dries quicker) to stick the tail, wing, eye, legs and beak onto the birdy bird.
    

Wubbzy Sponge & Finger Painting

If you have a toddler that loves getting messing then they will love this activity. You only need two colours to paint Wubbzy, yellow and black (as if you didn't know!). The only other equipment you need are a couple of plates for the paint, a rectangular bath sponge and some willing fingers! Use brushes if you want but it's easier for little children to paint with their fingers and sponge shapes. Don't forget to protect your work area before you start painting. I remembered to protect the table but forgot to take down a skirt I had hanging up to dry - Oops!

To Paint Wubbzy

1. Pour yellow paint on one plate and the black paint on the other plate. I added a little water to thin it down and a squirt of washing up liquid to make cleaning up easier!
2. Dip the sponge in the yellow paint and press it down to make Wubbzy's body.
3. Dip a finger in the yellow paint and make lines for the arms, legs, hands and tail. Finger paint circles for the ears and feet.
4. Next use the black paint and make fingerprint eyes, nose and lastly fingerpaint a big smile.

To Paint Flutterbies

1. Fold a piece of paper in hal
2. Use the bath sponge to make a kind of letter B shape on one side of the paper next to the fold.
3. Fold the paper in half and squash it down.
4. When you open it up you get a beautiful flutterfly.
5. You can use the black paint to add a body, and other colours to add a pattern if you want.

To Paint Buzzy Bees

1. Yellow & black are also good colours for Buzzy Bees. Use the sponge dipped in yellow paint to make the body.
2. Use your finger (or sponge roller if you have one) to add black stripes.