As a full-time, SAHM, I wanted to make sure I exposed my daughter to all the wonderful things she was missing out on by not being in daycare. We go to playgroups, story times at the library, and MyGym to expose her to other kids her age. We read about 30 books a day (at her direction!). We explore our environment in every possible way. The one area we were lacking in was crafts. She kept trying to eat crayons, and an afternoon at the Ceramic Studio making a Valentine’s Day mug for Daddy resulted in a lot of paint in her mouth… So I spent an evening scouring Pinterest for toddler craft ideas. After a few trial and errors, Edible Fingerpaint was our first successfully executed craft idea ever.
Edible Fingerpaint
At 14 months, she still wanted to put everything in her mouth – so what better craft to try than something that was safe to eat. Edible Fingerpaint was perfect!
Shopping List:
Plain or Vanilla Yogurt
Color/Flavor options:
Food coloring
Packet of Kool-Aid
Duncan Hines Frosting CreationsCost: Less than $5
Prep Time: Less than 5 minutes
Clean-Up Time: Less than 5 minutes
All you have to do is open the container of yogurt, put in your color/flavor option of choice and stir. If you want to make more than one color, separate it into bowls or small Glad Ware containers for easy storage. It will keep in the refrigerator for as long as the yogurt is good. When you are ready to paint, put a dollop or two on their play surface and let them explore, smear and taste to their little heart’s content.
I put it on a cookie sheet or her removeable high chair tray for super easy clean-up. I’m a big fan of activities that engage the child for more time than they take to prep and clean-up. In fact, that is one of my main criteria for posting an activity here for sharing. This one definitely passes that parent test! My daughter is a neat-freak, much like her father, and doesn’t really like to get dirty, so she makes clean-up relatively easy anyway. However, check out our post on tips for Crafting with Kids for other easy clean-up tricks.
If you want to preserve it for posterity (or to show their masterpiece to Daddy when he comes home), you can press a piece of paper over it… although I wouldn’t keep it forever. Old yogurt doesn’t smell great. We are very anti-clutter, so my favorite thing to do with all crafts: take a picture and upload it to Artkive! After nearly two years of crafting, and starting preschool, I am almost ready to print our first Artkive book, and I can’t wait!
What is your favorite craft activity to do with your baby? Any other edible ideas? For more activity ideas, be sure to follow our Baby and Toddler boards on Pinterest!
Follow Meghan @ PlaygroundParkbench’s board Babies (0-12 months) on Pinterest.Follow Meghan @ PlaygroundParkbench’s board Toddlers (1-3 years) on Pinterest.