I have wanted to be a mother for pretty much my entire life. There are a number of reasons why but what sticks out most to me of those reasons is because of my relationship with my mom and all of the activities (like edible tub paint) she did with us growing up.

My mom is my friend, confidant and has been my moral compass and sounding board my entire life. And, she’s fun! I just genuinely like being around her! I want that with my daughter. I also realize my own shortcomings and like most parents (I’m sure) try to “nip it in the bud” as soon as possible with their own children. In an effort to “save” my daughter from never repeating my mistakes, I have researched and researched ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on child development. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have in my possession more than 25 ACTUAL, page-turning books on the (many) subjects that I have read cover to cover.

I did most of the research when I was pregnant out of utter terror of not knowing what to actually expect (yup…have that one too) when you are no longer in training, the wheels come off and you’re expected to keep something alive…and teach it…and clean it….and make sure it thrives for the next 100+ years!

Fool.

I knew everything there was to know about parenting…until I became one.

What I’ve truly learned the last 15 months that she’s been on the other side of the womb is this. There is time. We have time to teach her everything she’ll need to know before kindergarten.  We have time to show her right from wrong, apples from oranges and blues from pinks.

These are the days for love, slow mornings, lazy afternoons and togetherness. It’s a time to play. and play. and play. and play.

I tell my friends and family that our daughter is blessed to have both a structured and play-based learning environment. She goes to “school”/childcare some days during the week and other days, she’s home with me and we play. BOY do we PLAY!

Like you,  I too am a HUGE advocate for Pinterest hoarding and experiments and I knew right away that I would definitely try a pin like edible tub paint when I first saw it!  When she was old enough to have fun with it, we’d give it a whirl and here we are!!!

Food Coloring!

Our Palette is complete!

We made, edible tub paint!!

Not only is it tub paint, but it’s safe to ingest, which makes mama a happy girl!

The original post is found here under the Fingerpaint section.  There IS a bathtub paint recipe, but it wasn’t edible so we skipped on!

At first, Kaya was confused as to what she was supposed to do with her new found tub toy but after a couple of helpful “monkey see monkey do” trials, she started really getting into it!
REALLY Getting into it…and all over her.  It was awesome!

When the paint hit the floor of the tub and she squished it between her fingers and toes, her eyes grew as big as saucers and she just LAUGHED.

She was so giddy with excitement for the full thirty minutes she was playing (which is amazing in toddler time!) 

Best yet, cleanup was a total breeze! The finger paint recipe worked BEAUTIFULLY in the tub and easily came off both baby AND washed off the shower and bath.  (I would absolutely rinse and wipe it down immediately after using and don’t let it sit too long or it may stain due to the food-coloring)

Have fun with this and let me know how it goes for you guys! Happy to help with any questions as always! <3

Edible Bathtub Paint

½ cup Corn Starch
2 cups water
3 TBSP  Sugar (I use Turbinado, but white works too!)
¼ tsp salt
Food Coloring (I used these by Wilton)

1. Add all ingredients to saucepan except food coloring.  Turn heat to medium and stir. (you’re going to want to stir pretty consistently…and it takes a while!! I made and fed Kaya her lunch while on a conference call for the day job while I stirred…so, no excuses!)
2. Once the mixture thickens – consistency of a dense glaze…slightly “soupier” than frosting, turn heat to low.  Let it sit and thicken more and stir every few minutes.  (Just an estimate, but it took about 30-45 minutes of this.  I also had all the time in the world and was willing to experiment to get the my personally preferred consistency)
3. Divide the mixture into a muffin tin (I used a 6 count) or mason jar or any container really and add in the food coloring (a little dab’ll do ya!)
4. Let it cool and give your kiddo a paintbrush or let them go crazy with their hands! It’s really a win win all around!

XXOO
Melissa