Grab some supplies from around the house to make this easy Kids’ puffy paint project. It’s a perfect boredom buster that any kid will have a blast making.
Are your children constantly looking for new and exciting ways to express their creativity? Look no further than the world of puffy paint! This versatile and fun art medium allows kids to let their imagination run wild while creating unique and textured masterpieces.
This project is part of my kid’s craft camp project! Go here to see all the fun projects!
Supplies to make your own puffy paint
- Elmer’s school glue white
- shaving cream
- food coloring
- popsicle stick or plastic utensils
- paper or cardboard
- plastic sandwich baggies or piping bags
- mixing bowl
I’m not sure if the shaving cream brand matters- I just made sure it was all white (not aloe or scented.)
I also used liquid food coloring and paste food coloring, and both worked so you can use whatever you have in your cupboard!
I used a couple of other things to add to my puffy paint pictures- like beads or glitter, or foam pieces. All optional just depending on what you are making!
How to make DIY puffy paint
This recipe couldn’t be easier! It’s 1 part glue to 1 part shaving cream. The hard part is that the shaving cream puffs up so it’s hard to tell how much is too much. I played around a bit, and really the puff paint worked even if it was too much shaving cream or less shaving cream! So just eyeball it.
I mixed it together really well until I received the consistency I was looking for: similar to a frosting texture.
After you have it mixed, you can add in the food coloring! I divided it up into muffin tins and mixed the colors directly in there so the kids could use this as when it was time to paint.
We also used piping or sandwich bags to draw with. You can add a spoonful of glue/shaving cream mixture and add a drop of food coloring directly into the bag and mix it with your hands by massaging the bag.
Then snip off the corner so you can squeeze it out to “draw” with it. (just like when you frost a cookie or cake! )
You can tie a rubber band around the top to keep the puff paint all in one corner so it’s easy to push out!
The Puff Paint will start drying as soon as it’s mixed, so you need to work fast so your kiddo can have plenty of craft time! The benefit of putting them in baggies is that they dry a lot more slowly!
Kids puffy paint project
We ended up creating a few different projects- I’ll walk you through what I made, but no matter what you create with the DIY puff paint- it will be so fun!
Puff paint cookies
- cardboard
- beads
- confetti
- plastic knife
I cut out “cookie shapes” from a cardboard box. You could lay out the cookie cutters and have kids trace them on a cardboard box to cut out if you want them to help out with this step.
You could also cut out the letters to your kid’s name.
Then I laid out all the “sprinkles” on a paper plate. We used small beads, confetti, and buttons.
Time to let the kids “frost” their cookies! Using a plastic knife or puff paint in a piping bag, they can decorate their cookies however they want.
We added the “sprinkles” last while the shaving cream glue mixture was still wet.
Let dry before handling.
Painting a picture with puff paint
We did try using a paint brush with the puff paint but it didn’t go on very smoothly or puffy.
So instead we use a spoon to spread the puffy paint around the paper.
For this fun Ocean scene, I had foam cutouts of sea creatures. You can also use stickers! We added a seashell and some pearl beads for the bubbles!
We also created some pictures with the piping bags.
Dried Puff paint
The puff paint puffs up even more as it dries! Here is a side by side.
After 24 hours, it is dry and you can press it and squish it.
I ripped up a piece so you can see what the inside looks like. It has a foam like texture to it.
Puff paint tips and tricks
It can get messy, especially when you have little kids helping, so put down a plastic tablecloth, newspapers, a table covering to make clean up easier!
The puff paint didn’t stain anything-but I also didn’t make my colors super saturated. Just a few drops of food coloring!
Save this craft for later
Too busy to get crafting today? No problem! Pin this post to remind yourself about this project later! Sharing my projects helps me reach more people, allowing me to continue sharing free content!
The BEST kid crafts and activities
and when I say kids, I mean kids of all ages!
- black glue art
- salt art
- hot rocks
- Yarn bracelets
- DIY window clings with puff paint
- Play dough activity mats
- Melted crayon art
- magic wallet
- Learn to make black scratch paper
- Melted Crayon Suncatcher
- Pressed Flowers Jar
- Bleeding Tissue craft
If you are looking for more fun kids’ crafts- my craft camp has two weeks full of fun projects that you will love to do as well!
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