Visit our Bookstore for all Activity & Crafty Subjects

Creative Paint
Items to add to 20 oz. of mixed tempera paint to make painting a learning experience: 
To make it creamy:  1/4 cup liquid starch 
To make it gritty:  1/2 tsp. Sand
To make it lumpy:  1 tbsp. Flour
To make it rough:  1 tbsp. Sawdust
To make it shiny:  1/2 cup sugar
To make it slimy:  2 tbsp. corn syrup
To make it slippery:  1 tsp. Glycerine
To make it sparkly:  1/2 cup salt (use mixture immediately for best results)
Make an experiment out of the craft. 
See what will happen to the paint if you add:-toothpaste-hand lotion-liquid soap-baby oil

Condensed Milk Paint 
Use 1/4 cup of condensed milk with a few drops of food coloring for pastel paint that will dry with a glossy finish. Use the paint sparingly or it will take forever to dry!

Clown Paint
1/8 C. Baby Lotion
1/4 Teasp Powdered Tempera paint
1 Squirt liquid Dishwashing Soap
Easily removed by soap and water

Finger Paints 
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 cups boiling water
1 cup cold water
food coloring or poster paint
1 pkg unflavored gelatin 
In saucepan, mix cornstarch with 3/4 cup cold water to a smooth paste. Soak gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Set aside. Pour boiling water slowly over cornstarch mixture, stirring. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and clears. Remove. Stir in gelatin. Cool and divide into separate small screw top jars. Add color.
Refrigerate to store. Paint is transparent, strong and durable with high gloss finish. May be used on dry or wet paper.

Kool-Aid Finger Paint
2 cups flour
2 packs unsweented kool-aid
1/2 cup salt
3 cups boiling water
3T. oil
Mix wet into dry. The kids love the color change. Then finger paint away.

Jello Finger Paint
any kind of flavored jello
enough boiling water to make it a good consistency for fingerpaint.
Use your normal fingerpainting material or glossy paper. Kids love the smell and the feel of it.

Pudding Painting
2 packages vanilla pudding mix
Food coloring 
Prepare pudding according to package directions. Divide between 4 disposable containers. Add a different color to each container. The pudding can be used like finger paint. You may also want to have sprinkles and other decorations on hand. You can also use whipped cream for this activity.

Puffy Paint
Flour
Salt
Water
Tempera Paint
Mix equal amounts of flour, salt and water. Add liquid tempera paint for color. Pour mixture into squeeze bottles and paint. Mixture will harden in a puffy shape.

Salt Paint
1/8 C. liquid Starch
1/8 C. Water
1 Tbl Tempera Paint
Mix together and apply to paper with a brush. Keep stirring mixture. Paint will crystallize as it dries.

Sand Paint
Tempera Paint (powder)
Sand
Mix dry tempera paint with sand. Let kids spread glue on picture and sprinkle on sand.

Snow Paint
Food Coloring
Water
Place water and food coloring in empty spray bottle. Let children spray colors on the snow to make designs

Sparkly Paint 
Premix liquid starch with powdered tempera or pour liquid starch on the paper. Have kids spread it around and then sprinkle on powdered tempera from a big holed salt shaker. Spread it around some more. This works well on slick, or "finger paint" paper or the slick side of freezer paper, but special paper isn't required. Add salt for more sparkles. Coarse salt works best.

Scentsational Paintings
Paint with Kool-aid and water. 
When it dries it is like a scratch and sniff sticker!

Simple Finger Paints 
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups cold water
food coloring 
Mix ingredients in saucepan. Boil until mixture thickens. Cool, pour into containers.
You can double this recipe, omit the food coloring, and pour this into several jars, then add the food colors. 

Water Paint
Bucket
Water
Sponges
Brushes
Fill bucket with water and use brushes and sponges or other materials to paint water on sidewalk. "Paint" will disappear as it dries. (WARNING: this has been known to also create wet children.)