And in walks Allison from Train Up a Child with her post Oh Baby! Edible Sensory Paint.
This is an alternative to all of the store bought finger paints out
there on the market and an especially good choice for those with little
chickens who like to put everything they come into contact with into
their mouths. Seeing as how my Bear is just a wee little one still, we usually end up with paint everywhere and me constantly trying to keep her hands out of her mouth. Seriously, what could be better than a messy, ooey-gooey paint that is 100% safe for the munchkins who are still mouthing everything?!
For a few weeks I have had this project on the back burner waiting for a nice day to get down and dirty outside without worrying about the furniture and whatnot. Apparently warm, sunny days are going to be few and far between for us, so I decided to bite the bullet and set up a space for us to get messy indoors. With a few towels tucked under my arm and a lot of espresso in my hand, I got everything ready for the approaching mess. We don't have a Vitamix or anything similar, so it was back to the basics with a saucepan and the stove. This paint could not have been easier to put together - it was seriously easier than going to Target and buying (more than likely unsafe for ingestion) paints! Check out Allison's blog for the complete instructions.
Nap time was the perfect opening to get it all going. While Bear was off in dreamland with her bunny, I made the paints and set up the area. She is a major ripper of paper, so I taped all of the sides down to the towel so her sneaky fingers wouldn't be able to get a hold of it.
Painting is a great sensory and visual play activity, but I think this is even better because of the texture of the paint! After it had cooled completely it turned into a thicker goo that might be icky and sticky to some! Thank the Heavens that Peanut doesn't have any issues with sensory processing, which makes this nanny beyond grateful for the endless options of projects that we have!
Peanut FINALLY woke up (any other day I would cherish an extra long nap but I was so excited to paint!) and I stripped her down to a onesie and got to it. She ever so gently poked at the blob of paint for a few seconds and then with her usual gusto, dug right in!
[ Tommy needed to sniff it out too ;) ]
Before I knew it, she was covered in paint from head to toe! It was to die for watching her rub it all around and then take handful after handful and shove them in her face (we're still working on self-feeding so sometimes she thinks her forehead is her mouth). I will admit, I tasted an itty bitty bite of the paint and I can't say it was too delicious, but apparently she thought it was the best thing since sliced bread!
My little smurf (the blue apparently tasted best to her) soon decided that it would be best for her to sit in the center of everything and paint with her booty. Hey - whatever works :)
After a good 25 minutes of rolling around in our goo, Peanut's attention span was wavering and it was time to act quickly before she left a smurf trail throughout the entire house! With a colorful tub time out of the way and the last bits of paint being washed down the drain, I'd say this project was a success!
The key to easy clean-up was the ultimate distraction - Cheerios (AKA Peanut's favorite thing in the entire world, seriously). With her safe and sound and occupied, all I had to do was peel the tape off, throw the towels in the washer, and clean up the muffin tin we used to hold the paint. Honestly couldn't have been easier! This clean freak nanny likes easy clean up.
Fingers crossed that we get some better weather up here pretty quickly so that we can start doing our projects outside!
Enjoy your weekend lovely readers! Make sure to find some time to take care of YOU!
xoxo Nanny Sarah.
