The watercolors can be made in bottlecaps and then stored in a baggie

We've used this watercolor recipe for years around here to make our own paints.  Not only can you create all sorts of color combinations, but it can be used wet or left for a day to dry into cakes.  These make wonderful little gifts, and kids love anything that involves mixing and experimenting.

Materials:

~ 3 Tbs. baking soda
~ 3 Tbs. corn starch
~ 3 Tbs. white vinegar
~ 1-1/2 tsp light corn syrup
~ food coloring (paste is best)
~ containers (such as bottlecaps or a weekly pill box)

Steps:

1. Mix vinegar, baking soda, corn starch and corn syrup together in a small bowl.

2. Divide the mixture into several small plastic bottlecaps or other containers.

3. Add six to eight drops of food coloring to each tub or lid then mix.  The more you add, the brighter the watercolors will be.

4. Use Wacky Watercolors as they are or let them dry into hard cakes of paint. If you use them while they're dry, be sure to wet the paintbrush before painting.
 

This painting was painted with homemade watercolors

Tips:

*  Use paste food coloring if you want especially vivid colors and lots of color choices. Michael's Crafts in Mankato has lots of varieties of paste food coloring in their cake decorating section.  Some oil based food coloring will not stir in well, but it will blend perfectly by the time it's dry.

*  Take the opportunity to teach little ones about color mixing.  We've made purple, green and orange and then gone a step further to make mixtures like red-violet and blue-green by adding one part of one primary color to two parts of another.  Mix all three primary colors to make brown.

*  Get creative about containers for these.  You can make a larger batch and make the paints in an old ice cube tray.  Other possible containers are empty watercolor kits and pill boxes (the kind with a compartment for each day of the week).

*  These take a long time to dry!  Even in small lids it can take about 24 hours.  They are also fun to use wet, though.

*  If you make them in bottlecaps, you can store the dry paints in a plastic baggie or even tie a few of them in a small cloth with a ribbon as a sweet gift.

Note:  After using this widely-circulated recipe for years, I recently located the source: The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions: More Than 65 Wacky, Wild, & Crazy Concoctions, by John E. Thomas and Danita Thomas.  This book will definitely go onto my wish list!