Kids are lovely, messy, and creative artists. One of their most favorite thing to play with is homemade paint, and they certainly can leave a mess. However, ordinary paint carries profound health implications if ingested.
Luckily, you can whip out a few readily available items from your pantry and make non-toxic paint, which is safer even if consumed. The color options are nearly unlimited. Read below for one of the most straightforward recipes on how to make non-toxic paints for kids.
How to Make Non Toxic Paint for Kids - Methods
1. Method One
Before creating paint, save some bottles or containers to store the paint. You can use detergent bottles or ketchup bottles. Ensure you wash the used bottles thoroughly with warm water and soap, then dry them with a washcloth.
Add flour, salt, and water into a bowl and mix them appropriately to make a fluid colorless taste. Once you have mixed the paste to your satisfaction, add food coloring that resembles the color you desire into the bowl.
You can also choose to add the mixture in different bags containing food coloring. Therefore, you can create your mix and develop a variety of paint in the process.
Once you have added every ingredient as desired, mix it thoroughly until the homemade paint is consistent throughout. If you do not stir and mix it consistently, it will clump and not easy to use.
Slowly funnel the mixture into the empty bottles, where they will be stored for later use. Once you finish making the color you wanted, wash the tools thoroughly before creating a different color paint.
2. Method Two
For this method, gather pastel chalk pieces in different colors, determining the paint's color. The egg yolk will give the paint a smooth, paint-like texture. Expensive chalks produce vibrant color paints, whereas cheaper ones have a softer texture. It depends on your preference.
Take the tray and fill up the muffin spaces with water for each color you will use. In each room, put in a chalk stick and let them rest in for 15 minutes. To get a richer color, you can add in a few more sticks of the same color.
Remove the soaked chalks and gently crush them into powder. Soaking makes them soggy and easy to crush. Stir the mixture to produce an even color in each muffin tray.
Pasteurize the eggs to make them genuinely non-toxic, since raw ingestion can make a kid sick. Crack the eggs and cook on high temperature for a couple of minutes, approximately 138° Fahrenheit. If they are cooked until they are scrambled, then they will not be used for painting. Separate the egg yolks from the whites since the egg whites will not help in making the paint.
Add an egg yolk to each muffin space with the chalked pieces. Keep doing so until there is a thicker texture with the consistency of paint. The egg also ensures a glossy finish once the paint dries off. Let the mixture settle for a few minutes to allow the yolk and color consistency to spread evenly.
3. Method Three
You can also make herbal earth paint for the kids to use.
What You'll Need
The powdered herbs can produce a variety of colors. Below is a list;
The benefit of using herbs to create paint is that it works really efficiently, and it tastes excellent as well. They have zero toxins, which make it safe for kids' ingestion, and they contain nutritional value.
Kaolin clay is the most recommended clay for homemade non-toxic paint. It is because kaolin clay is affordable. It is also white, so it will not affect your paint's color, unlike bentonite. Clay is primarily for thickening the paint. Using powdered herbs only can be costly; therefore, using clay will reduce the expense since it bulks up the paint.
To liquefy the paint, you can use various liquids; water, egg whites, or glycerin.
Water is the cheapest and readily available choice. However, it acts just like any watercolor paint and will absorb right into the paper. Luckily, your paint won't be used up that fast, and you can paint on vertical surfaces because your paint won't run.
Unfortunately, water grows bacteria there; you will need to make more after a week of refrigeration.
Egg whites are more suitable for making homemade non-toxic kids' paint since they make your paint a little thicker makes it easy to spread around. The stickiness helps hold the paint to the paper's surface, which is convenient if one is pointing with an easel on an uprightly placed paper. However, using eggs can be expensive, and they tend not to last long.
Glycerin is also an option that can be used. You have to be careful if your aim to make paint that can't harm the kid if ingested. You should purchase food-grade glycerin from the grocery store. Using glycerin will ensure your paint lasts longer if kept in an airtight container. It also makes the paint spread easily.
When you have decided which liquid you want to use and the colors, you can begin mixing. Use equal parts of clay and powdered herbs. Add about a small amount of your preferred liquid, about one teaspoon at a time, then mix. Add more liquid if the paint is too thick, or add more clay and herbs if it is too thin.
Whichever of the methods you choose for your homemade non-toxic kids' paint, rest assured your child will get creative and appreciate every moment. With time as your kids learn to use homemade paint, you are slowly introducing them to the real stuff. You can also teach them how to do it to enhance their creativity.