Dan and I are both artists who have turned our creative passions into careers, so we’ve always talked about how we wanted to expose Mio to arts and crafts at an early age, in hopes that she’d enjoy being creative, too! We recently bought some painting supplies for her so that we could introduce her to the fun world of painting.

Painting supplies!

My concern was, of course, the paint. Mio is still in the phase where she puts most things she can get her hands on into her mouth… and I knew with absolute certainty that she’d try to eat the paint that we gave her, too. Thankfully, there are some options for natural, non-toxic, edible paints specifically made for toddlers like Mio. The one I chose was an organic, vegetable-based finger paint set from the company We Can Too. (Apparently it’s gluten-free and dairy-free, too, which wasn’t as huge of a concern to me… but probably even more of  a plus for some parents out there!) The paints are a bit pricier than regular finger paints, but they come in powder form which you mix with water, and a little goes a long way! I only used a little bit this time and it was enough, so I think it’ll take us a while to go through all of the paint that came in the set.

Edible finger paint with vegetable-based ingredients.

 

The only disadvantage of this paint is that it is slightly grainy because it’s food-based, and is not as highly pigmented and smooth as regular paint. I think it’s a small trade-off if it means ensuring that your child doesn’t accidentally ingest harmful substances, though.

Mixing water to create the paint
Mixing water into the powder to create the paints.

 

We took all the supplies outside, and I laid down some plastic and set up an area for her to paint freely, to her heart’s content.

She got the hang of it immediately!
She got the hang of painting immediately, grabbing the handle of the brush and dabbing the paper with paint.

 

Creating her first work of art.
Mio creating her first work of art. Look at her double-fisting the paintbrushes... that's a true artist!

 

And, as expected, she brings it to her mouth....
And, as expected, she brings it to her mouth for a taste...

 

Adding some purple to the painting.
I was impressed by how well she held the paintbrush!

 

Surprisingly, she knew to put each brush back into their respective color.
Surprisingly, she knew to put each brush back into the right color. (Most of the time.)

 

I unscrewed the lids of the paint cups so that Mio could stick her hand in them and finger paint (since the paints are “finger paints,” after all), she mistook it as her cue for her to try eating them.

 

Trying to drink the red paint.
Literally trying to drink the paint...

 

She had to taste-test each color.
She was determined to taste-test each color.

 

This is precisely why I got these edible veggie paints, because I knew this was going to happen. So I just let her go to town with it and lick the paint all she wanted — fun, uninhibited exploration for Mio, and stress-free supervision for me.

Eventually, after she had taste-tested all four paint colors, she actually came around and started using her hands and fingers to paint. 🙂

Finger painting.
Finger painting fun!

 

Look at you!
"Look at you!" At the end of the painting session, Mio was quite a mess...

 

She had a lot of fun!
...but it was all worth it to see her light up with a smile!

 

Yay for a fun afternoon of painting!
Yay for a fun afternoon of painting!

 

Clean-up was pretty quick and easy, as we’d been painting outdoors and Mio had been wearing her smock… just had to take the smock off, wash and clean off her face and hands, and bring the supplies inside to wash out. I think it only took about five minutes! We will definitely have to have more art days for our little budding artist… 😀