This Puffy Paint Recipe will soon be one of your favorite ways to paint with the kids. The kids will love the exciting puffy texture on their page! It’s easy to clean up and so much fun to do. It’s perfect for an indoor crafting day with the kids.
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How to Make Puffy Paint
I love crafts that double as activities. When the kids can keep busy long after you have crafted together, it is a win-win for all. Back in the day, the kids and I would make fun crafts like homemade scented playdough, colorful cornhusk dolls, and scratch art to fill up a rainy day with something fun to do. This recipe for homemade puffy paint is another one of those crafts that the kids will spend time enjoying and you’ll enjoy a little extra time, as well.
Are you ready for a cool painting experience with the kids?! This might become your favorite paint because it creates such a fun texture on the paper, and little mess is involved. It’s made with only four simple ingredients. You don’t have to find an extra-large, clean space to lay the paintings to dry. Masterpieces your kids create will be dry in seconds. You can hang them or stack them up. Clean-up is as simple as cleaning up after baking with the kids. You might get so involved in painting with the kids that you are creating your masterpieces long after they have lost interest.
What You’ll Love about this Homemade Paint
- It only has four ingredients and is an easy puffy paint recipe
- This paint transforms from a flat paint to a puffed-up paint in seconds and is completely dry.
- It’s a fun activity for toddlers and preschoolers. The puffy paint dough is completely made from edible ingredients
Puffy Paint Ingredients
- Self-Rising Flour – Don’t worry if you don’t have “Self Rising.” – The recipe to turn All-Purpose into Self Rising Flour is below.
- Salt
- Food Coloring – you’ll want to make your paintings colorful, so make sure you have lots of different liquid food coloring or gel food coloring on hand.
- Water – this will be used to create a paste
- Cardstock – this will be painted on
Equipment Needed
- Cupcake Pan works great for a paint tray, but you can use a food tray or bowls.
- Q-tips (or paintbrushes) – I found that Q-tips were easy to distribute to my four kids. This gave each kid their own set of paintbrushes to dip into the paint and use it to spread on their paper.
How do you make Puffy Paint?
- Mix equal amounts of salt and flour into each bowl or compartment.
- Stir in enough water to form a paste.
- Add food coloring to color each puffy paint mixture in different colors for the kids to enjoy.
Puffy Paint with Shaving Cream
You might be looking for puffy paint with shaving cream. I have not experimented with that type of puffy paint.
Puffy Paint with shaving cream is a mixture of equal amounts of shaving cream and glue. It puffs up and goes on thick, and the painting dries into a rubbery mixture on the paper.
This type of puffy paint is quite different. It goes on like normal paint and then puffs up and dries in seconds, leaving a 3-D painting that is dry and ready to hang.
FAQs
What does it look like dry?
The puffy paint puffs up in the microwave to a 3-D texture that is so exciting to see. The surface will be hardened and the paint will be completely dry in a matter of seconds!
What does DIY Puffy Paint Batter Look Like?
It’s a paste with salt granules mixed in. It will spread on very thick.
Shaving cream puffy paint goes on thick and puffed up. It dries to a rubbery finish. Microwavable puffy paint goes on like thick paint and puffs up in the microwave as it completely dries.
You can leave puffy paint out at room temperature for several days. Just add water to turn the solid mixture back into a paste before painting with it again.
This recipe for Puffy Paint does contain food coloring, which could stain clothes
This recipe uses self-rising flour, salt, water, and food coloring – all of which should be safe for kids to handle. Even though these ingredients are most likely non-toxic, they could still irritate skin or cause stomach upset.
In the microwave, puffy paint takes 15-20 seconds to dry
I would use a thick paper-like card stock
Are you ready to make Puffy Paint? Here’s What You’ll Need:
Printable Recipe for Puffy Paint
Homemade Puffy Paint
Equipment
- small bowls for paint colors or muffin tin for a paint tray
- q-tips or paint brushes
Materials
- ½ cup Self Rising Flour If you don't have self rising flour – see notes below
- ½ cup Salt
- 5 drops Food Coloring amount will vary
- Water amount will vary
- cardstock for painting on
Instructions
Instructions: – Per color
- For each color: Mix 1 Tablespoon of Self Rising Flour with 1 Tablespoon of salt
- Add a little food coloring and a few drops of water
- Only add enough water to make a paste.
- Use a Q-tip or paintbrush to paint on a sheet of paper. Use the paint liberally! The more you paste on, the more three dimensional your painting will look.
- Microwave the painting for up to 12 seconds. The painting should be puffy and dry
Notes
Recipe for Self-Rising Flour
- For each cup of All-Purpose Flour – Add 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder, & 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and mix to combine
~Melissa
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