Activities: Finger Painting With Food

Turn food into a work of art

Submitted by
Kayla Chong

Feel like your little one might be ready for finger paints, but worried that more of it will go into his mouth than on the paper? Use jarred baby food or pudding as paint and worry no more! Plus you'll be giving your child tactile stimulation that'll help his brain grow. (And you might even sneak in some nutritious calories if he licks pureed peas off his paws.)

Painter:
Your kid. As soon as your kid can sit in a high chair, he can do this activity.
Paints:
Pureed baby food and pudding. Jarred carrots for orange paint, peas for light green, chocolate pudding for brown, vanilla pudding for tan tones, blackberry sauce for purple.
High chair:
You may want to keep the mess contained and let your kid do his painting sitting down.
Paper (optional):
You can just let your kid paint on his high chair tray.
Toast (optional):
If you want him to eat what he paints, have him paint with a paintbrush on a piece of lightly toasted white bread.
Bib:
Or let your kid go topless for this activity.

Gather up all the "paints."
Take off your kid's shirt, or put him in an outfit you don't mind getting stained and dirty. Not that anything he wears is safe!
Put your kid in his high chair (at a time other than your usual meal time) and pour a little of the "paint" onto the paper or tray.
Show your kid how to "paint" with it. Draw a circle in chocolate pudding or a cat out of carrots.
If he painted on paper, hang his masterpiece up on the fridge for an edible art show.
If he painted on toast, have him gobble his art up.
Then wash your kid's hands—and face and chest and toes—and put on a fresh outfit (if he'll let you!).