Edible finger paint

The ladybird is still at the stage where she puts everything in her mouth but I want to start doing more creative activities with her so I decided to give edible finger paint a try.

One nap time I followed the directions on The imagination tree for edible finger paint and allowed the paint time to cool. I found that I had to make the paint in a pan over a low heat in order for it to become the correct consistency. I divided the paint between 4 Tupperware boxes and add a different food colouring to each.

After nap time, I put the ladybird in her highchair, in a wipe clean bib. I put a bit of each colour paint in front of her and tried to encourage her to play including playing with it myself. She was very reluctant to touch it so I added in her paint brushes but still she showed very little interest.

 I stored the paint in the fridge for a few days and tried again a couple of time but she never showed any interest. When I mentioned it at nursery they said she loves doing hand printing with poster paint. They also mentioned that she doesn't seem very interested in their sensory play sessions when they use toothpaste or shaving foam.

I would definitely recommend this edible paint recipe to other parents but I won't be trying it with the ladybird again for a while! I'm already thinking up different ways to create and play with the ladybird that suit her preferences. Play should be fun and at just 18 months she obviously isn't ready for anything too messy.