School Holiday Project 12 - Puffy Paint

This is a tremendously fun project for the kids to do. First they make the paint themselves and then they draw their own pictures before painting it with the puffy paint. Their delight knows no bounds when the paint then starts rising when we 'bake' it in the microwave.

Someone once shared this recipe on one of the Facebook craft groups and I saved it to my iPad for later use.

We started the project by consulting on what colors to mix. We concluded that we would have to mix red, pink, blue, green and yellow.

I had these handy containers in my art supply stash.

The kids were allowed to measure off the ingredients themselves. Precision is not required. The recipe asks for self raising flour, but I did not have this on hand. We therefore swapped it out for a dessertspoon cake flour to which we added a 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.

Add a dessertspoon of salt.

Add 3 teaspoonfuls of water. Add more (or less). You need a slightly runny paste.

Add as much food coloring as is required to mix the color you want. Whisk everything together.

I put the lids on while the kids drew their pictures on paper.

I opted for a little figure made solely of circles as this would allow me to show the paint off best.

With both the paint and the drawings ready, the game was in full play.

I chose to apply the paint with my finger. The kids alternated between using their fingers and dripping the paint on with teaspoons.

This is what mine looked like with all the paint in place.

I put it in the microwave, directly on the turntable.

The recipe requires 30-45 seconds, but my microwave sets in 30 second increments. I would have to stop it in time. In the end all of ours baked for 45 seconds.

Once heat is applied, the chemicals react with each other, exactly as in a cake and the 'paint' will rise. It will also harden. Remove from the microwave and allow to cool and harden outside the microwave,

The kids were still having fun. In the end they cared less about the drawings and simply enjoyed playing with the paint.

Doesn't this face tell you how much fun this was?

Beauty certainly is in the eye of the beholder! This face is more the result of having had fun than of having created great art. Any child who believes art is fun is one that can later be taught more disciplined art. At this age fun is more important than accuracy.

Post some pics of your own kids' work as well. I'd love to see it.

For more crafty ideas and great products, visit APrettyTalent.com.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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