2 ways your kids can use a plastic bag to fingerpaint without the mess

Guest post by Tammy
#How-To & DIY#art#diy#lil kids

All photos by Tammy.
A lot of kids loooove fingerpainting, which I think makes sense — it is a fun sensory experience. Most kids enjoy squishing paint through their fingers and getting messy. Although I have to confess, I’m not always up for the mess fingerpainting creates. Mess-free fingerpainting is perfect for those days when you don’t have time to clean up messy kiddos!

I found this great fingerpaint recipe and I had to give it a try. I love homemade recipes that work as well or better than their store-bought counterparts. This recipe was easy to make and the perfect consistency. It made the perfect amount to fill three half-pint mason jars.

Ziploc painting is all over Pinterest. I thought I found the perfect fun mess-free painting solution! This colorful bag of paint is the perfect way to work on color mixing. Kids will be amazed when they create a new color.

What you need: mess-free finger painting

How you do it

  1. Place two colors inside the Ziploc, remove all the air and seal tightly.
  2. Tape over the seam just to make sure you will have no accidental opening of the paint bag — I placed a white paper under our bag and then taped everything to the table to keep the bag from slipping around.

The kiddos loved squishing the paint, but they were disappointed when I told them that they were not creating a “painting” that they could hang on the fridge. My perfect mess-free experience was not so perfect in the kids’ eyes. So I had to create another mess-free painting experience that would produce fridge worthy art. Here’s the information for that:

What you need: mess-free finger painting with results

How you do it

  1. Have the kiddos scoop finger paint onto their paper.
  2. Place a large piece of plastic wrap over the entire paper.
  3. Tape all the edges of the plastic wrap to the paper, making sure to carefully seal every edge. Once everything is sealed, your little one is ready to start painting.

No need for the car to go through the car wash after this painting, and the kids loved the tracks the wheels left behind. Once your little one is finished painting, simply remove the tape, and discard the plastic wrap. You will be left with a beautiful masterpiece.

He got his painting, and I had no mess to clean up. This is definitely an activity that we will be revisiting! Happy mess-free painting!

Guest Post By: Tammy

My name is Tammy. I love spending time being creative and encouraging my kids to be creative as well.

Comments on 2 ways your kids can use a plastic bag to fingerpaint without the mess

  1. I love this mess-free option! I am big on using sensory ideas in the house, and this is perfect. I’ve let the boys use monster trucks and small cars with paint on canvas before, creating gifts for friends. This is a good alternative just for fun.

  2. You could always take a photo of their ziplock bag squished paint to record the memory, like you would if they created a great play dough sculpture or a wonderful construction of wooden blocks

  4. I think this would have been great for me as a kid. I was freakin’ terrified of finger paints:p

    Really I was afraid of paints in general, and hated getting them on my hands (I think I was never convinced the color would ever come OFF my hands again). So being able to “finger paint” without getting any paint on my hands would have been great.

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