Making paint is so much fun! We have lots of homemade paint recipes for you today! All these how to make paint ideas are fun DIY paints for kids and easy ways to make paint at home. The great thing about the homemade paint ideas on this list, is that you likely have the ingredients in your kitchen cabinets right now. Making homemade paints at home also allows you to control the ingredients you use.
Best Homemade Paint Recipes to Make with Kids
Painting is such a fun activity for children. Who doesn’t love getting messy and making art. A lot of times though, store-bought paint can be toxic or not safe for kids, especially smaller kids.
Related: Paint brush ideas for kids
So we have gathered 15 awesome ways to make homemade paints with simple ingredients. These easy paint recipes for kids include kid-friendly finger paints for toddlers and so many more paint at home ideas. These homemade paints are amazing! There are no toxic pigments unlike regular paints, and a lot of these have great paint color. This regular brush paint is a great way to let your little one paint with safer paints.
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How to Make Water Color Paint at Home
1. DIY Water Colors from Nature
This homemade paint recipe shows you how to make natural paint at home using flowers! These natural watercolor requires heated water, flowers, and a rolling pin. The colors are so vibrant!
2. How to Make Homemade Watercolor Paints
It is easy to learn how to make watercolor paint with kid-friendly ingredients. It is also safe for little ones who stick their fingers in their mouth. It makes silky, colorful, paint that can create the most beautiful of masterpieces. You can make the color of your choosing.
3. Marker Watercolor Paint Recipe
Watercolor marker art is actually a way to make your own homemade watercolor paint with the markers that your child already uses. It makes a very kid-safe paint (with kid-safe markers). This is such a unique type of paint.
How to Make Edible Paints for Kids
4. DIY Edible Sensory Paint
Here is the edible sensory paint! This is safe for babies and toddlers to taste while they create art. This paint is a thicker pain, but just as fun! You can also turn it into colored gel dough to play with as well. These edible ingredients will allow toddlers to enjoy painting too! They can make colorful and fun paint creation!
5. How to Make Starburst Homemade Paints
Use up leftover Halloween candy by turning it into your very own paint. Starburst candy paint comes in gorgeous colors and smells incredible, combining art and sensory play in one recipe. Make sure to use warm water in your cups of water to help the candy melt. This is also another flour paint as it uses flour in the finished product.
6. Edible Spice Paint Recipe
This homemade spice paint recipe is genius for kids to taste and paint…they can learn about colors and spices all at the same time. This is one of my favorite because has simple ingredients including food coloring.
Homemade Paints Recipes For Toddlers
7. All-Purpose Toddler Paint Recipe
Make your own homemade paint recipe with basic kitchen ingredients. It uses things like flour, water, dish soap, and food coloring. It makes vibrant paint that you can use with brushes or it makes great homemade finger paints for toddlers. This would also be a great finger paint recipe for preschoolers too.
8. Homemade Bath Paint Recipe
This homemade bathtub paint was one of the very first types of paint I ever made at home. The bonus of any type of art project done in the tub is it is super easy to clean up {giggle}. Just be warned that this does involve food colouring so test it out first.
Creative Homemade Paints Recipes
9. Homemade Scratch and Sniff Paint
Remember how popular scratch and sniff stickers were in the 80’s and 90’s? Now you can make scratch and sniff paint! You can create beautiful art that smells great. It too uses all kid-friendly ingredients.
10. DIY Frozen Smoothie Paint Recipe
This cold paint is so much fun to play with in the summer. Despite its name, it is not edible. But this frozen smoothie paint makes great homemade finger paints for toddlers as well.
11. Confetti Paint Recipe
Make your own homemade paint with sparkles! This confetti paint recipe also doubles as a sensory play idea. The paint is puffy and jelly like with different sequins and sparkles in them. It’s gooey and sparkly, perfect! This is such a great homemade puffy paint.
12. Egg and Chalk Paint Recipe
This egg and chalk paint recipe is not meant for small children who still put their hands or brushes in their mouths as it requires raw egg yolk and raw egg whites. It sounds weird, but combining it with powdered chalk creates vibrant paint that dries with a gorgeous jeweled finish.
13. Homemade Glowing Paints
This homemade glowing paint for kids is so much fun! This is one of my favorite homemade paint recipes. It is kid-friendly and a great night time activity that creates the coolest art. Paint with it, squirt it out of the bottle, it is so cool. You will need a black light for this activity though. Double check to make sure the glow sticks are non-toxic. We want non-toxic paint!
14. Scented Kool Aid Sand Paint
This scented kool aid sand paint recipe will also double as a sensory activity as well. This paint is textured, smells good, and can be used with brushes, poured, or as homemade finger paints for preschoolers. Kool Aid is used instead of food coloring to color this DIY paint.
15. Kool Aid Puffy Paint
Puffy paint was super popular in the 90’s and now you can make kool aid puffy paint at home. While it may be tempting to eat this paint, remember that this also contains a lot of salt. Don’t worry, you don’t need a lot of puffy paint ingredients.
Homemade Finger Paints
16. Fall Finger Paint Recipe
This fall finger paint recipe is great for the fall season. Why? Because it has lovely gold sparkles like the leaves and it smells like fall with it’s pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon with a little food coloring.
17. Homemade Finger Paint
This homemade finger paint recipe is great for toddlers and preschoolers. It is made with ingredients in your kitchen and are a fun thick paint that can be used with brushes if your little one isn’t a fan of the texture.
How to Make Sidewalk Paint Recipes
18. Scented Sidewalk Chalk Recipe
This is another small child friendly recipe. While it technically is edible, it may not taste the best, but it is still a fun outside activity. Put the homemade scented sidewalk chalk paint in squeezy bottles and let the art creating begin!
19. Fizzy Sidewalk Paint Recipe
Make this super fun fizzy sidewalk paint recipe that is sure to please. It is something that kids of all ages (OK, me too) will enjoy and it will keep them outdoors playing for hours! You can make so many different colors. Keep them in different bowls or give your little one a mixing bowl to make new colors.
Easy Things To Paint for Kids
Now that you have learned how to make paint and chosen your favorite homemade paint recipe, let’s look at some easy things to paint!
- These easy painting ideas for canvas are really simple because they use stencils.
- Even though these are Christmas painting ideas, the clear balls and technique work great year round with younger kids.
- These butterfly painting ideas are great for kids of all ages.
- Kids will love using their DIY paint for sponge painting!
- Have kids paint their hand and then make one of these many handprint art ideas!
- Rock painting ideas are always fun for kids because you can start by hunting for rocks…
More Painting Ideas From Kids Activities Blog
Now that you have made your own homemade paint recipes, you need things to paint and paint activities! We have them! This would be a great time to test our your easy homemade paint recipes too!
- Try bubble painting…it is a lot of fun and all you need to know how to do is blow bubbles.
- This is another fun outdoor activity, perfect for hot days! Skip the paint brush, this ice painting will make your sidewalks a work of art.
- Sometimes we really don’t want to deal with the mess of painting. No worries, we have this awesome mess free finger paint which is a good idea for toddlers!
- Make your own edible milk paint and color…popcorn!
- Try making your own paint with this paint recipe with flour!
Which was your favorite homemade paint idea for kids?
Thank you for this information! I wanted to make some homemade paint with my kids, but didn’t know where to start. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. I’m very glad to see such fantastic info on how to make paint for kids being shared freely out there.