Parent tip
Set out food colouring and plastic containers before inviting your toddler in so the first minute feels smooth.
Edible Finger Paint
Make safe, taste-friendly paint from yoghurt and food colouring — perfect for babies and young toddlers who mouth everything.
Activity details
Instructions
- Spoon plain yoghurt into 3-4 small bowls
- Add a different food colouring to each bowl and mix
- Spoon the coloured yoghurt onto a tray, highchair table, or large paper
- Let your toddler explore with hands: smearing, swirling, poking
- Show techniques: drag a finger through for lines, press a palm for prints
- Let them taste — it's safe, and the tasting is part of the sensory experience
- Talk about colours and textures: 'That's blue! And it's cold and smooth!'
- When interest wanes, press a sheet of paper on top for a print to keep
What success looks like
Messy hands and a child who doesn’t want to stop. The artwork doesn’t need to look like anything — the process is the point.
Mix plain yoghurt with drops of food colouring to create taste-safe finger paint. Spread it on a tray, highchair table, or large sheet of paper and let your toddler smear, swirl, dot, and drag with their fingers. Because the paint is edible, there is zero anxiety about hands going to mouths — which they will. This removes the hovering supervision that makes messy play stressful for both parent and child, creating a genuinely relaxed sensory experience.
Why it helps
The NHS Best Start in Life programme recommends sensory play as a valuable way for toddlers to explore the world, noting that it supports language development, cognitive growth and fine motor skills. For babies and young toddlers in the oral exploration stage (12-18 months), taste-safe materials remove the constant 'no, don't eat that' dynamic that makes messy play stressful. When the mouthing is permitted, toddlers can fully engage their tactile system without interruption. The smooth, cold texture of yoghurt provides gentle sensory input that is ideal for tactile-cautious children who may find thicker, grittier textures overwhelming as a first messy play experience.
Variations
- Use mashed banana or puréed sweet potato as a base instead of yoghurt for a different texture.
- Add a sprinkle of desiccated coconut or oats for a textured, bumpy paint.
- Spread it on a mirror for a reflective painting surface that doubles as face-recognition play.
Safety tips
- Check for dairy allergies before using yoghurt — substitute with coconut yoghurt if needed.
- Food colouring may stain skin and clothes temporarily — use minimal amounts.
- Ensure the playing surface is clean, as the paint will be eaten.