How to Make Puffy Paint
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This puffy paint recipe uses self-rising flour, salt, water, and food coloring to make colorful paintings that puff up in the microwave. Make homemade puffy paint without shaving cream or glue for a fun indoor art activity with the kids.
All activities, recipes, crafts, and games with children should be supervised by an adult. Small parts are a choking hazard.
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
- A cupcake pan works well as a paint tray, but you can also 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 paint and 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 each puffy paint mixture to color them in different colors for the kids to enjoy.
How to Paint and Dry the Puffy Paint
- Use a Q-tip or paintbrush to paint on cardstock. Apply the paint thickly for a more three-dimensional finished painting.
- Have an adult microwave the painting for 10–20 seconds, watching throughout and stopping as soon as the paint is puffed and dry. Do not microwave the metal cupcake pan or paint tray.
- Watch carefully while microwaving so the paper doesn’t scorch. Stop heating as soon as the paint is puffed and dry.
Puffy Paint Without Shaving Cream
This is a flour-based recipe for puffy paint without shaving cream. Self-rising flour, salt, water, and food coloring make a thick paint that puffs up when the finished artwork is microwaved.
No glue is needed for this version, either. Follow the flour-based recipe in the craft card below; the microwave instructions apply only to this recipe.
I have not tested the shaving cream version. The photos and instructions here show the microwave puffy paint I made with my kids.
FAQs about Puffy Paint
What Does Puffy Paint Look Like When 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.
This homemade puffy paint uses self-rising flour, salt, water, and food coloring instead of shaving cream and glue. The paint puffs up in the microwave. I have not tested the shaving cream version; follow only the flour-based instructions on this page.
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.
For this flour-based recipe, microwave the artwork for 10–20 seconds with an adult watching throughout. Stop as soon as the paint is puffed and dry so the paper does not scorch. These instructions apply only to this recipe.
Use cardstock for this puffy paint recipe. An adult should watch the artwork throughout microwaving and stop as soon as the paint is puffed and dry.
Looking for another hands-on activity? Try these easy scratch art ideas or make a batch of scented playdough.
Printable Puffy Paint Recipe
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 10-20 seconds. The painting should be puffy and dry
- Watch carefully while microwaving so the paper doesn’t scorch. Stop heating as soon as the paint is puffed 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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