Make Your Own Paste,
Finger Paint & Goop

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons cornflour.
• 1 cup of cold water.
• 4 cups (approx) boiling water.
• 1 tablespoon disinfectant.

How to make it

1. Mix the cornflour and cold water together.
2. Add the boiling water to the mixture.
3. Boil for 1 minute whilst stirring the mixture occasionally until it is clear.
4. Add disinfectant to the mixture and add a little more water if it is too thick.
   

This is great as a base for Powder Paint (be sure to visit our Kids Painting Ideas article) and it can also be used as glue for children to use for collage work.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup of plain flour.
• 8 cups of cold water.
• 6 tablespoons sugar.

How to make it

1. Put the flour and 4 cups of water into the bowl and mix them together until there are no lumps.
2. Put the remaining four cups of water into a saucepan and put on the stove to boil.
3. Remove the boiling water from the heat and then carefully pour the flour mixture into the pan.
4. Stir and bring the mixture back to the boil.
5. As soon as it starts to boil, take if off the stove again and add the 6 tablespoons of white sugar.
6. Give the mixture a good stir and then leave it to cool (overnight if you can).

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons cornflour.
• 8 cups of water.
• 1 cup of soap flakes.
• 1 teaspoon disinfectant.
• Food colouring or you can use Powder Paint if it is mixed in well.

How to make it

1. Set aside one cup of water and insert the remainder into a pan and bring to the boil.
2. Mix remaining water with cornflour.
3. Add the cornflour mixture to the boiling water ensuring that it is stirred to prevent it getting lumpy.
4. Add soap and disinfectant and food coloring (or powder paint) to the overall mixture and mix well.

You can also use regular paint to do finger painting. This method is better as it gives a better texture and it can feel warm to touch when the children first use it.

Goop runs through the fingers and has a pleasant heavy feeling as you lift it up and drop it through your hands. Goop looks messy but cleaning it up is very easy, since it can be picked up or wiped off the table and easily washed off the hands.

Ingredients

• 2 Packets of cornflour.
• 2 cups of water.
• Food Colouring.
• Plastic or newspaper covered table (outdoors is better).
• Large container (an old baby bath or a water trough, if you have one, or even a rectangle plastic basin).

How to make it

1. Mix the water and colouring into the cornflour and add extra water if necessary - the Goop should have a thick consistency.
2. Put on something to protect your clothes, such as an apron, smock, old shirt or garbage bag with head cut out and holes made for arms.
3. Insert hands into the Goop and feel the consistency.