Save yourself a bundle and let your kids make their own puffy paint!

Why buy puffy paint when you can make your own? Let the kids “paint” your driveway on a warm day or make their own creation indoors! I recommend using a thick piece of cardboard so it doesn’t make the paper too soggy.

DIY Puffy Paint Ingredients:

2 cups of flour
8 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
8 tsp. salt
water
food color (we used food gel)

DIY Puffy Paint Directions:

Mix ALL of the ingredients together EXCEPT the food coloring and separate into desired number of bowls – one for each color that you will be making.

Add food coloring to each bowl. We used the gel food coloring to get bright colors.

We did our activity outside but it wasn’t very messy (this of course depends on your kids!). I HIGHLY suggest painting on a piece of cardboard as this “paint” is thick.

You can use squeezy bottles, paint dripping off spoons, etc. We decided to use two different types of medicine syringes! (gotta reuse them somehow right?!) They are great for fine motor skills and if you have kids you probably have plenty of these laying around!

Your kids can make their own designs, or you can even rip a large cardboard box apart and make a huge banner! Try spelling out letters, numbers, shapes, animal faces, etc. Have kids “trace” their name on a cardboard!

When the kids are done pop their artwork into the microwave for about 30 seconds to dry it out a bit and make it even puffier!

Voila! This is my oldest son’s artwork! This would be great for making your own holiday and special occasion cards and invitations too!

if your kids are really in the artsy mood one of my favorite things to do is to buy cheap white t-shirts and use these Sharpie Fabric Markers to design your own shirt!! You can easily print images online to trace or hand draw your own!