Fathers' Day :: baby friendly edible finger paints

For a lot of places, Sunday was Father's Day.  I will openly admit that after many years together I sometimes feel as if I've exhausted my reservoir of gift ideas for the Milkman (which isn't particularly deep at the best of times.  Yes, I'm crap...).  However, even though this was his 14th Father's Day it was his first as daddy to Mini Milk, so I actually started putting in some thought early.

I think the most simple yet effective gift for a parent is something their child has made for them.  Even if it's not instantly recognisable what that thing is, most parents will still be touched at the concept.  But at just nine months I thought craft projects were a little beyond Mini Milk's remit.  Trawling Pinterest proved me wrong, and I was instantly taken with the idea of surprising the Milkman with baby artwork. 

It was this Pin that did it.  I loved the idea of a canvas covered in splodgy paint, but with a legible message to give it true meaning. 

I hadn't considered painting as an option, given that Mini Milk still evaluates anything within reach by giving it a good old chew, but it turns out that you can make your own edible paint.  Not that I would recommend serving it up as a meal, but as it is made from ingredients found in your kitchen it is fairly baby friendly.

I set out to get the materials I needed, but was let down by my local shopping options when it came to finding a cheap canvas, or sticky letters.  I wasn't put off the idea though, and made do with what I could find.  I choose a cheap multi-picture frame and had to opt for craft paper.  I was a bit worried that sticky letters or masking tape would rip the paper when it came to the big reveal, so decided to just use one of the spaces in the frame for the message instead.

I used the recipe from the Pin (from Queen Of The Mountain [Of Laundry]) and chose blue and red Asda food colouring, assuming that if it mixed we'd end up with some shade of purple. Unfortunately the red was a bit disappointing, having more of a brown tone than an actual primary colour pop.  The blue was lovely though - I kept it light but it would have had a little more impact had I been a bit braver!

Baby-Friendly Finger Paints

2 tbsp sugar (I used caster)

1/3 cup flour (I used plain)

1 cup water

Whisk together in a saucepan, and keep whisking over a low heat until the mixture has thickened.  Separate into different tubs, add your choice of food colouring and allow to cool before using.

Then it was time for the fun part.  Mini Milk loves to get gunky with his food, so I knew this would appeal to him.  I basically poured paint on his highchair tray, slapped a bit of paper down and let him make a mess.  We got through quite a few sheets, and he was so intent on slapping his sticky paws into the paint that it didn't even make it into his mouth after all!

It was actually kind of hard to chose which of his pictures to use in our gift for daddy, as some had more of a colour impact whilst others had interesting patterns or hand prints.  In the end I chose the one which sums up our little percussionist perfectly - prints left by him drumming his hands down on the paper.

If you are going to try this out yourself (which I really recommend you do!), I have a few tips.  Firstly, strip that kid down and move anything you don't want covered in paint far, far away!  I had the bath already run and waiting, so I could fling Mini Milk straight into it afterwards.  Another tip is not to be precious or try to contain the mess - losing battle.  As long as anything stainable like laundry or fabric furniture is out of the firing line, anything else can be wiped down later.  Just have fun with it, and get your own hands messy too.

I will finish this up by sharing the biggest lesson I learned - don't leave a pot of paint within your baby's reach...!