There’s also a cooking method, which involves heat corn start, hot water, and shampoo or soap up on your stove top before portioning it out into individual containers. Finally, a note about safety! While bath time can be a lot of fun, the bathroom can be dangerous for kids, and the bath tub even more so. My favorite paint recipe (no-cook bathtub paint) only takes about 5 minutes. The version that requires cooking takes slightly longer, but is still less than 10 minutes, all in. My kid is addicted to bath time when it involves painting, and can happily spend upwards of an hour in the bathtub when playing with her paints.

Crayola Color Bath Dropz - 3.59oz/60ct : Target Crayola Color Bath Dropz - 3.59oz/60ct : Target

Then, of course, there’s the ingredients. Generally speaking, I prefer to use more natural, non toxic products in our house, with fewer ingredients.Corn starch gets really clumpy in liquid of any sort, and no matter how I tried, I could never completely de-lump it. Over the course of my experimentation, I like to think I’ve gotten pretty good at making bath paint. Kids I’ve tested it with seem to agree, so I figure I’d share it here! Sift the cornstarch into a mixing bowl or container. If you’re using the Attitude Shampoo, use 3 parts shampoo to 1 part cornstarch.

Crayola Bath Time Bundle - 9 Items: Bubble Bath, Bathtub

Add the food coloring to each paint container, and mix well with a spoon or the end of a paint brush. However, you also have to heat the soap up, which means your whole kitchen stinks like whatever chemicals are in there for fragrance. I have issues with this, since indoor air quality and controlling VOCs are so important for health!

In my experience, this bathtub paint is so much better if you sift the corn starch first, so your size of sifter might dictate which you choose. I’ve also tried 3 different types and brands of liquid soap to perfect our bath paint recipe. Why I Love Making Bath Paint for Kids

Crayola Bath Paint : Target Crayola Bath Paint : Target

You can also store it in an airtight container for at least a few days (I haven’t tried to store them any longer). Non Toxic & No Worries The Attitude shampoo worked best for colors, by a long shot. It’s completely clear, so this makes sense. The colors were “true” to the food coloring. If you’re really, really in a hurry, you can mix up little bits of these DIY bath paints in each paint container, so they are ready for adding color even sooner. Low Waste This recipe is the “no cook” method for making DIY bath paints. I’ve shared the cook method further down in this post, as well as why I don’t recommend it. DIY Bath Paints IngredientsSupervision! Don’t take your eyes off your kids when they’re in the bath, and don’t use anything that might distract you, such as your phone. Bath Time 101: Be Present and Alert! Natural food coloring (I use Watkins natural food coloring and it doesn’t stain my bathtub or tiles) All three also had a slightly different consistency and viscosity, which effected the ratios I used. The Dr. Bronner’s was the most “flowy”, and a 2:1 ratio worked perfectly. In fact, the Dr. Bronner’s worked best for consistency of the paint, and was most “paint like.” It’s easy to make a “just enough” batch, whipping up just enough bathtub paint each time so there’s very little waste. I’ve tried this bathtub paint on my bath tub and shower tiles, and it’s been fine (including on the grout). It’s never stained and it’s super easy to wash off.