Infant friendly art

These ideas a simple for every day fun and safe for babies and toddlers. Painting is fun and stimulating activity. It helps develop their imagination, fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Given that babies bring their hands to their bodies and their hands got straight to their mouths, we focus on food safe activities. With these activities you won’t worry about your babies well-being or mess.

Your baby may be ready by 4 months but most babies are ready around 9 months old.

We love water art because it cleans by itself. Let me explain myself:

1. Grab some wood pieces, cardboard or thick paper.
2. Prepare a plastic container with a few tablespoons of water. The best containers have a lid. Reuse baby food containers and make a hole in the middle of the lid as this allows kids to dip a paintbrush. Once you have one container made, you can use the same one for months.
3. Prepare the area by setting a waterproof or plastic tablecloth on the floor and set the water container, paintbrushes and painting canvas.
4. Encourage & demonstrate: Show your kiddo how to paint by dipping the paintbrush in the container and painting on the canvas.
5. Let your baby learn and have fun.

The best part of this method is that if water spills, it will dry. The painting canvas also dries so it is reusable (depending on how wet it gets). You also don’t have to worry about toxic chemicals.

Once your baby graduates from water, you can add food coloring or fruit puree to the water and let them explore colors. Make sure to use clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty and dyed. Once your baby is done painting, make sure to clean the area. If you used fruit to color your water naturally, discard the artwork as it may attract fruit flies and such. This is a fun activity but much more wasteful as the canvas can’t be reused.

Another fun and clean method is to use a clear zip bag (ziplock) or bubble wrap to enclose acrylic paint. You want to make sure whatever tools to paint with and the paint itself you use are taste safe just in case it leaks or your baby opens the packaging. Many paints contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that generate toxic fumes, which can pose a threat to your little one’s. This painting method allows kids to squish the paint in between layers without touching the paint. You may tape the bag onto a table to reduce leakage and opening. You can even place a drawing on plain paper underneath the bag or wrap so they can “paint” the drawing. The many variations of this make it a fun activity for kids.

You may opt for frosting as a paint alternative as it is taste safe and comes in a variety of colors but frosting is full of sugar which may cause dental cavities, high blood pressure and elevate energy levels. Yogurt is a great alternative to this method as yogurt contains high levels of the all-important calcium for bone development, some vitamin A for eye, skin, and immune health, all B-vitamins, zinc and potassium. Yogurt also comes in a variety of colors and plain yogurt may be colored with plant based food color. Th best thing is to let them feel the textures and have fun with it.

You may also use finger paint that is non-toxic & washable paint. Non-toxic, is another way of saying it is safe to ‘taste’. If they do put it in their mouth you have peace of mind however I wouldn’t recommend allowing them to eat it. Encourage & demonstrate where to put the instead.

You can always offer crayons or coloring pencils for easy clean up and great fun. Pure Beeswax Crayons are a non-toxic alternative to traditional crayons if you are worried about your baby ingesting them. Keep in mind that thick barrel crayons are easier for small hands to grip comfortably and they are also harder to break. Yay!

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