So my daughter is 3 and had never done finger painting. I always shied away because it just seemed like too much of a mess...especially if I want a chance at getting my damage deposit back! However, I came across this great idea in my recent issue of Family Fun magazine for no mess finger painting! To make the finger paint, all you need is some non-toxic tempura paint and a big ziplock bag. I put some tape over the zipper part so she can't open it. She has had a lot of fun with this drawing lines and making impressions in it. I let her use the eraser part on the pencil to draw with too. I added white and blue paint thinking it would be extra cool to see the colors mixing together...but don't do that. It just made it harder to see the more subtle impressions. I think I may have added a little bit too much paint too..but it works good enough. We've had this bag of paint laying around for about 2 weeks now and it's been a great activity to pull out real quick without making a mess.
tip: make sure your kids dont have sharp fingernails or use other sharp objects that could make a snag or leak in the bag...otherwise it won't be no mess finger paint anymore!
(a great way to recycle a used ziplock bag! and when your done with it, you could recycle the paint too. When she doesn't like playing with this or wants a new color, I think I'll draw a picture of a cake or something, then snip off the corner and let her squeeze the paint out to decorate a piece of paper.)
