Rainbow Feet

There is something about body art that is appealing to kids of all ages (just ask my sisters). My kids can spot a face paint artist a mile away at a weekend fair and there is nothing more fun (in their opinion) than finding rub-on tattoos in a birthday party swag bag. Summer is the perfect time to indulge in all this body art love. Throw on some bathing suits, turn on the hose, and bust out the paints.

It tickles!

This afternoon we had a little bit of time between lunch and a swim meet so we decided to paint our feet. We do all of our painting projects outside - it makes clean-up so much easier and reduces my mess-stress incredibly. This project was no exception... outside.

The added beauty of our rainbow feet project is that there is a useful end product - in this case, our rainbow feet will be used to make thank you notes tomorrow for the swim instructors for the last day of lessons. The kids love making handmade cards and I love getting them started on the thank-you note habit early. Win-win, right? This project is also great to frame and give to grandparents or other family members as gifts or just tape up on the fridge!

The Details ... 

This project is certainly easy and definitely a lot of fun. I like to use the non-toxic, washable, poster paints from Melissa & Doug. You can buy them at most local toy stores or online.

We love Melissa & Doug Poster Paints

I squirt a variety of colors into recycled egg cartons and grab a handful of paintbrushes. This project seems to work better when we have one paint brush per color.

Generously paint the bottoms of your child's foot - a single color or any pattern he or she chooses.

Place a piece of paper on the ground and hold the child's foot above the paper - on the count of three, firmly guide the foot to the paper, pressing the foot flat against the paper and pressing on each individual toe.

Swiftly remove the painted foot by lifting directly up from the paper - don't let it slide sideways and smudge. Foot prints really need the help of an adult to get a nice image. Hand prints can often be done completely independently if the child is old enough - probably kindergarten age and up.

Big kids can do hand prints all by themselves

Clean-up is not too hard. Baby wipes work really well, as do wet paper towels or cloths. My children first wanted to walk around the patio to see if they could make a painted footprint trail before they got serious about getting cleaned up. Choose the right paint and you won't have any clean-up disasters!

Have fun!

Every print looks unique