Mess-Free Finger Painting to Keep Baby Busy

Baby bear is fed, well rested, and has played on the floor until she has demanded to be picked up. Now what? NOW. WHAT. The dreaded in between time where baby doesn’t know what to do with herself when she is awake and I don’t know what else to do with her either. We walk, we talk, I make funny faces, we dance, she swings, she watches me vacuum, I put a show on the TV for her to watch (oh the horror!), but alas the screams of “non-content-ness” fill the air. Now what? She is finally becoming more interested in things like toys or her feet and those will occupy her for some time. Maybe 2 minutes if I’m lucky. Do you realize how many minutes are in a day?! Some days are better than others and swinging in her seat will turn into nap time and I will quietly do the happy dance, as to not wake the baby, and thank a higher being for their kindness.

In this in-between time today I thought I would try something I’ve seen on Pinterest a few times lately – mess free painting. Evie has been grabbing at everything lately and prolonging tummy time for more than a few minutes is not easy, so I thought I would give this a try.

I put a piece of paper inside a gallon size storage bag, squirted some paint onto the paper, zipped it up and taped it to the floor so it wouldn’t move around everywhere.

I put her down on her tummy in front of the bag. Baby bear slapped the bag a couple of times but was not interested in the paint at all! I talked about how it felt cold and squishy and helped her push it around. She was not amused. Although she looks cute. She loves the camera.

So I un-taped the bag and let her grab it and she loved that!

But the sticky masking tape was even more fun.

I thought maybe there wasn’t enough paint for her to really feel the “squish”, so I took the paper out added more paint and let her squish it around in the bag. And still, I think she would have had just as much fun with an empty bag!

I tried. Someday I’m sure she will love to paint. I thought about being adventurous and taking her clothes off and letting her put her hands in it…but she was already getting fussy on the floor after I took the soaking wet masking tape away! So maybe another day. [Update: We finger painted and it was fun! See the snowflake painting we made!]

NOW WHAT?!

Want to see more activities to do with young babies? See these 5 activities to do with your 6 month old!