Homemade Kids paint

[danielle22033]

I was hoping someone could help me out here. I just made my kids some homemade paint that is pretty much made from cornstarch, water and gelatin and colorants. The recipe says to store it in the fridge for up to 3 days to prevent it from going bad. I was wondering if there is anything we could add the the paint to help it keep longer and allow us to store it in the cupboard? I have a ton of essential oils, ROE, phenoip (sp) and vitamin E. I do know that I am out of tea tree oil. Any suggestions?

Thanks

I guess I should add that the recipe makes about 4 cups of "paint" (so that perhaps someone knows how much of what to add)

 

[snappyllama]

If it has water, you need a broad spectrum preservative. I guess I'd probably go for Germall Plus.

ETA: I don't know if that is enough to keep the cornstarch water blend from going off - especially since it's for kids. Not sure i'd risk it without having it tested before letting the kiddos play...

 

[Susie]

It is made of food. Exactly what do you expect it to do?

 

[earlene]

When my granddaughter was little we paint, too. But it was a dry variety, more like water color paints are in the little boxes you can buy. So preserving it was not an issue. I also used a smaller recipe so it got used up pretty quickly.

I would suggest you avoid essential oils for kids, particularly if they are likely to get the paint on their skin (and who doesn't?)

 

[seven8soap]

How does that paint hold up over time?