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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Fingerpaint Easter Egg

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Remember how much fun dying Easter eggs was when you were a kid? (Or, if you’re like me, when you most recently conned your spouse into dropping those fantastic fizzing pellets into water-even before you had children!)
Obviously, sharing the joys of Easter egg dying with a baby is a bit of a stretch…not to mention a giant mess!
I knew I had stuck Easter gold when I found paintable ceramic Easter eggs at the craft store. With a price tag of $3, I thought “Wow--THIS is something I can work with!”

A “Baby’s-First-Easter-Egg-Fingerpainting-Project” is born!

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We placed a piece of paper on the highchair tray and started fingerpainting as per usual.
Next, I introduced the egg, holding it by it’s hanger string and letting Ethan touch and paint the egg.
I would help by spinning the egg to help him cover it completely with paint, as needed. I encouraged him to occasionally paint on the paper to “reload” his fingers with paint, and to help introduce new colors.

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By the time we were done, we had quite the controlled mess, and a beautiful egg!
I use a water bottle lid as a drying stand.
When I was sure the paint had dried and set completely, I wrote his initials and year on the bottom of the egg with a fine tip Sharpie. I then brushed on two coats of clear acrylic paint to preserve his artistic Easter creation.
We purchased an egg holder for $2.50. Total cost= $5.50 plus tax.
Egg-cellent! (sorry, I just had to!)


Our final product
Ethan has a great memento of his first Easter that we can proudly display with the Easter decorations every year!
Best of all- We spent what was otherwise a rainy afternoon creating something fun together!


One last note
If you decide to recreate this project with your baby or young child, remember that imperfection is perfection. Not every inch of the egg will be painted. There may be areas of the egg where the paint becomes “muddied.” And that’s what makes each and every egg so special and unique.
Happy Easter Egg painting!