DIY paint that puffs up in the microwave? Sounds like a surefire hit to me! I saw this idea on Mommy Labs awhile ago and filed away for a rainy day. Today just happened to be the perfect combination of rain and bored kiddos, so I whipped up a batch – quick, easy, and SUPER fun!
We started with one cup of flour and mixed in 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and enough water to make it the consistency of pancake batter. We divided our mix into four parts and put them into snack size Ziploc baggies along with some food coloring. Part of the fun was squishing it all around to mix up the colors!
Rubber band the baggies like you would if you were icing a cake and snip off the teeniest little bit of the tip.
Paint away! When you’re finished, pop the painting into the microwave for 30-45 seconds and watch the paint puff up and grow – such fun! I loved that it was completely dry out of the microwave so we didn’t have to worry about any extra messes or accidents as our pile of paintings grew.
We made about ten paintings this morning, and we still have plenty of paint leftover so that Sawyer can have a chance to try it when he gets home from school too. Nothing beats cheap entertainment, especially with some fine motor skills practice and a built-in kitchen science lesson!
Johanna says
September 27, 2017 at 5:53 pmI shared this activity with day care staff during my training on Art in Early Childhood Education. It was a BLAST! The day care staff had so much fun as they made the puffy paint, created works of art and zapped in the microwave. We did an exhibit of their artworks at the end of the training. THANKS!
Alice says
December 29, 2017 at 6:03 pmWhat is a flour substitute
Theresa A. Secor says
October 13, 2018 at 1:15 pmI watch my grandkids every Friday and wanted to find something different to do. This was perfect! Now everytime they come over this is the project of the day! My grandson who is 4 almost 5 loves that he gets to help measure, and make the colors! I did realize an easy way to mix, and have less mess putting the mixture in the baggies. We have small tumblers and we used a regular size sandwich bag. I mixed the mixture in a 4 cup measuring cup, and then we put the baggie in the cup so it held it open and then we poured the mixture into the baggie from there. So much easier!