In my quest to find sensory activities to do with my toddler daughter, I came across a few ideas that involved putting paint in ziplock baggies. The child could then squish the paint together, exploring touch and color, without making a mess. However, I know my toddler daughter. And a plastic baggie would do nothing to stop her from getting at the paint, whether accidentally or intentionally.
After some careful thought, I realized the solution to my problem was staring at me from my kitchen cabinets. Instead of paint, I could put pudding colored with food coloring in the bags. The texture and colors would be the same with the pudding paint, but the potential mess would be so much healthier and easier to deal with.
I used cheesecake pudding because I had a box in my cupboard, but any white-colored pudding will work. After preparing the pudding according to the directions on the box, I divided the batch into smaller containers. Using food coloring, I then dyed the pudding different colors. I chose yellow, blue, green, pink, and purple.
After allowing the pudding to cool down and firm up in the refrigerator while I was at work, I then spooned the colored pudding into ziplock baggies. Removing as much air as possible, I closed the bags. If you are using thicker plastic bags, just one should work. However, because I was using cheap store brand baggies, I ended up double bagging because my daughter almost immediately poked a small hole in her first bag.
Poppy loved playing with her messless edible paint bags. She loved running her finger over the pudding, feeling the squishiness. She particularly liked grabbing the bags in her hands and bunching the pudding up into balls. She also liked hearing the plop of the pudding when she threw the baggies on the floor.
When your toddler is done playing with the messless edible paint bags, simply throw the baggies in the garbage. Alternatively, you can eat the brightly colored pudding as long as your child has not been playing for too long. Since milk spoils, you want to eat the pudding only if the pudding is still cold. You and your toddler will enjoy exploring the world of color and textures with these safe and easy messless edible paint bags.
Image Credits
Pudding and Food Coloring © 2013 Heather Johnson
Pudding Powder and Milk © 2013 Heather Johnson
Mixing the Pudding © 2013 Heather Johnson
Cheesecake Pudding © 2013 Heather Johnson
Separating the Pudding into Smaller Containers © 2013 Heather Johnson
Adding Food Coloring to the Pudding © 2013 Heather Johnson
Colorful Pudding © 2013 Heather Johnson
Yellow and Blue Messless Edible Paint Bag © 2013 Heather Johnson
Blue and Purple Messless Edible Paint Bag © 2013 Heather Johnson
Green, Pink, and Yellow Messless Edible Paint Bag © 2013 Heather Johnson
Mixing the Blue and Yellow Pudding © 2013 Heather Johnson