Bring some fun and novelty to your child’s coloring activities with Puffy Paints. These paints give a 3-dimensional texture to art projects, making them stand out from the regular coloring and art activities.
Puffy paint art is a great way to get children excited and is super fun and easy to make at home. There are many puffy paint recipes out there, but if you are looking for that one recipe that gives your art puffy effect even after drying out, this is the recipe you need to try!
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How to Make Homemade Puffy Paint
Homemade puffy paint is a fun and easy way to enjoy arts and crafts time with your kids. Our simple recipes require just a few easily available ingredients, and the results are hours of fun for all ages!
What is Puffy Paint?
Like the name suggests, it is a paint with a puffy texture and pops-up an artwork giving it a 3-D look. It is extremely easy to make at home and a fun way to brighten up art activities for your toddlers and preschoolers.
We are sharing two DIY puffy paint recipes – one that is microwave free and the other that lets you watch your painting puff up right in front of your eyes.
Both the recipes are equally easy and fun to make and give you a puffy paint that stays puffed loving after drying!
How to Make Homemade Puffy Paint
Making your own homemade puffy paint is a fun way to spend time with your kids and do some arts and crafts. This recipe is simple, and all you need are some common household ingredients that are inexpensive and easily available.
This homemade puffy paint recipe does not even require a microwave and that’s why we say it is the best DIY puffy paint ever!
And in case you are looking for a microwave puffy paint recipe, simply scroll down. It is fun in its own rights!
Puffy Paint Ingredients
- 1 cup Flour
- 3 1/2 cups Shaving Cream
- 1 cup White Glue
- Food Coloring
- Mixing Bowl
- Plastic Cups
- Spatula
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, add 1 cup flour, 1 cup white glue and mix in 3 1/2 cups shaving cream. Mix the ingredients gently so as not to flatten the shaving cream.
Step 2: Now that the base of your puffy paint is ready, it is time to divide it into paper cups before adding in the desired colours.
We used reusable plastic cups as they are easier to clean and also can be used to keep the paint while your kids are busy creating their artworks with paint brushes.
Step 3: Add food coloring to the different cups while making sure you do not over-mix and flatten out the shaving cream.
If the paint feels too flat, you can add some more shaving cream to give it the body.
Step 4: Pour the mixture into a plastic squeeze bottle or piping cones or use it as it is with paintbrushes.
You are now all set for making your own 3-D art!
There are so many puffy paint ideas to try and experiment with. Let your child use his/her creativity to make their art.
It’s best to just sit and watch as your little Picasso’s imagination takes flight.
Step 5: Lastly, let the paints dry for a few hours. Once they are dry, they will be raised, soft and spongy.
Related: If your kids like these spongy, fluffy paints we bet they will adore Making Elephant Toothpaste as well!
If you are using light craft papers to make art on, you can keep them near the sunlight to aid the drying process. In case you are using darker coloured paper like black, let it air dry away from direct sunlight as the sunlight might cause the darker colour to fade.
What an easy recipe that can be made in a matter of a few minutes! We really like how even little kids can make it. Such a wonderful activity to keep preschoolers busy and give them the confidence and skills for making their own stuff.
Microwave Puffy Paint
If your kids(or you!) don’t have the patience to let the puffy artwork dry, then we suggest trying a microwave puffy paints recipe. This recipe is just as easy but instead uses self-raising flour and salt instead of glue and shaving cream for the puffiness.
What we love most about the microwave puffy paints is how fun it is to watch them puff up right before your eyes. Also, they don’t really test patience and that makes them a perfect thing to do with preschoolers.
Microwave Puffy Paint Ingredients
- 1 Cup Self Raising Flour
- 1 Cup Salt
- Water
- Food Coloring
- Mixing Bowl
How To Make It:
Step 1: In a mixing bowl, combine 1 tbsp. Salt with 1 tbsp. Self-raising flour.
Don’t rush to the supermarket in case you don’t have self-raising flour! Simply mix one cup of all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 tsp. of baking powder and a pinch of salt to make your own self-raising flour at home.
Step 2: Add 2 tbsp. of water at a time to the flour and salt mixture to get a lump-free smooth paste. You want a consistency that is not thick but nice and flowing without being too runny.
Step 3: Divide the base into plastic cups and add a few drops of food coloring or water colors of your choice.
Step 4: Make an art using the diy paints and once you are done, pop the sheet into the microwave for 20 seconds to watch your art puff-up right in front of your eyes!
It is quite a thing to watch as the paints puff-up and almost always gets my kid jumping with excitement! You would want to exercise caution once you remove it from the microwave as the artwork would be slightly warm.
It takes a minute or so to cool down and is ready to be touched (or poked!) by your kids. My kid loves how it feels and always has so much fun with them.
Related: Also Make Lava Lamp At Home. It is super easy to make and fun to watch!
Puffy Paint Crafts For Kids
Let your kids get creative and explore puffy paint the way they like. There are so many awesome ideas to explore.
From colouring regular colouring sheets to making fun crafts for kids or making murals on the sidewalk, there are plenty of interesting, lovely ideas waiting to be tried.
Try decorating different surfaces and figure out which surface works best with these paints. We have tried it on paper, cardboard, and even on foam sheets!
1. Make a 3D picture.
2. Make a sign for your room.
3. Create a card for someone special.
4. Make a bookmark.
5. Paint a rainbow!
6. Add elements of puffy paint to a regular 2-d picture to make it stand out!
7. Make a 3-D puffy Halloween Pumpkin.
Related: We have lots more Fun Halloween Activities & Ideas to make sure your kids have spooktacular halloween!
The possibilities are endless! Let your imagination run wild and see what you can create with puffy paint.
