Mess-less Painting with Baby

I love to craft all the time.  It’s one of my most favorite past times.  Yarn, fabric, felt, wood, embroidery floss, and paint are just a few of the mediums I like to work with.  

As my sweet boy has gotten older the amount I can craft has increased because he can entertain himself for a little while but he usually just ends up staring at whatever I am doing.  The look on his face making it clear he wants to get his hands on my crafts. 

One day while painting I thought it would be nice if he could paint with me but I didn’t want to make rice cereal paint because it seemed unnecessarily messing and I would never be able to keep it as his first artwork (I’m ever so slightly sentimental AND he is my first lol).  I also couldn’t just put nontoxic paint down because at 5 months he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.  So I grabbed some paint, card stock, a zip top bag, and some painter’s tape.

I plopped a few colors of paint onto the card stock and placed it in a zip top bag and then taped it down to his high chair tray.  This worked really well but we ended up doing a few “paintings” and reusing the bag is not really an option so I went back into my cabinets to find a cheaper solution.  Enter cling wrap.  This really changed the game.  I just wrapped the paper in the cling wrap a few times and then taped it onto his high chair tray. This worked great!

Sweet boy was so interested in the paint and watching it mush when he pressed on it.  It was a great opportunity to talk about texture, color, and then read a few art themed picture books.

1.  Mix It Up! by Herve Tullet
2.  Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
3.  The Dot by Peter H Reynolds 
4.  I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont



* After your kiddo has lost interest in painting be sure to carefully remove the cling wrap to allow it to dry.  If you allow the paper to become too soggy it will just tear apart when you try to remove the plastic.

* This is also a great tummy time activity for kiddos that aren’t quite to sitting yet. Just be sure to be very careful since there will be plastic right next to their faces. 

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