Finger painting

We've not finger painted at home yet (girls have a FT nanny here, I work from home). But Grace is scheduled to start an EI therapy playgroup twice a week, and they mentioned finger painting as one of the things they do.

So, my question to those who have finger painting experience, how messy is it? I'm assuming if they do this at daycare/preschool, they wear some sort of smock for protection. Should I invest in a smock for her to wear?

TIA!

 

It can be pretty messy, I would definitely invest in a smock. I don't think I let my oldest DD do it until she was around 3 or so. I definitely would not try it with Emilie and Trevor now, especially if I was alone, if I had someone else here maybe, but probably not. Good luck!

 

We've done it. My kids have plain white t-shirts that they have colored with marker to decorate them ( a little bigger than their normal size, basically boys undershirts), they wear these for finger painting. I put newspaper on the floor (pergo) and they do their painting there. Yes, it is messy, but we have the crayola washable paints. They absolutely LOVE it.

 

Quick tip from the boys' daycare...you can pour some paints on a piece of construction paper and place that clear cling wrap down over it. Then let them smoosh it to their hearts' content to "make" a picture. They did this for the boys at daycare when they were 11 months old. I thought that was a genius idea! Painting without the mess!

 

Crayola has washable finger paints that I bought the girls a couple weeks ago. We tried them out once (in their highchair) and it wasn't too messy. But I think as they get older the messier it'll get. Most times its me and my girls and I get bored easy so I'm all for anything to pass the time. Cleaning a mess isn't a big deal, but thats just me.

Here is a pic of my girls going at it the first time.

 

Mine just did it recently for the first time with actual finger paints. We usually use pudding so I don't have to spend the whole time saying "don't eat it". You can use vanilla pudding and add food coloring to make it fun colors.

I say skip the smock and go au natural in the high chairs.

 

Mine do it in their high chairs at the kitchen table. I put an old vinyl tablecloth on the table and give them each a paper plate with a dollop of each color on the plate for them to paint with. They also wear a button down shirt backwards over their clothes or a big bib. It's messy, but they love it! I always put their creations out in the garage to dry afterwards so that they don't mess with them while the paint is still wet. HTH

 

I set the boys at the table in just their diapers and let them go with the paints. They love it, and it's certainly no more of a mess than anything else they do around the house- I just make sure to prepare for a bath right afterwards.

I bought the washable finger paints from Michaels, and they do wash right out of clothes, and right off of our table, floors, etc. Don't be scared, it's lots of fun!