You know we love all kinds of kid-made art and these DIY Puffy Paint Donuts are such a fun way for some messy art + a great way to connect art to a traditional Hanukkah food! Making your own DIY puffy paint is very simple and it’s a really amazing texture to work with. The kids loved creating their own DIY Puffy Paint Donuts … and they really can’t wait to eat some real ones during Hanukkah, which starts in just two weeks!
What You’ll Need
- Cardstock
- Scissors or a cricut
- Glue
- Shaving Cream
- Food Coloring
- Popsicle Sticks
- Sprinkles
Putting It Together
- First make your donut shapes by either cutting out circles with a hole in the middle or by using a cricut to do the work for you!
- Make your DIY puffy paint by combining approximately equal parts glue and shaving cream. Add food coloring if you wish and use a popsicle stick to stir the mixture together.
- Invite your child to create their donuts by adding the “frosting” of DIY puffy paint to the cardstock donut cut outs. We used the popsicle sticks because I didn’t want to ruin our paintbrushes, and because I always like giving opportunities for unique painting methods and equipment, but you can totally use a paintbrush. Or a spoon! So many options.
- Once they finish glazing their donut, they can add sprinkles.
- Let the donuts dry, then hang up as a sweet Hanukkah decoration!
Finished & Loving It!
I love how easy it is to make DIY puffy paint! And it’s a very forgiving recipe–I don’t measure and just eyeball it and it’s always turned out fine. It is so fluffy and fun to paint with. And you can create as many, or as few, colors as you want with food coloring. So many possibilities!
Today we used popsicle sticks as our painting equipment. This was a little challenging for the kids initially. And that’s ok! It adds an extra level of focus and concentration, as well as strategic and creative thinking, that I loved they got to explore. They soon got the hang of it and, as you can see, created very fluffy happy donuts!
The texture of this puffy paint is so fun to work with. A few days after the paint dries the fluffiness will probably decrease a bit. For us that’s ok! It’s so much about the process of using different painting methods and equipment. But if you want to hang these up as decorations, just know that their appearance may change. And the sprinkles may fall off too once they are upright!
There are many many types of fried desserts that Jews all over the world make for Hanukkah. It is our family’s tradition to make bimuelos, a fried anise dough fritter. I have attempted making my own sufganiyot before … and it was not a success! But we often get some yummy donuts from the experts (hi Fluffy Donuts, we love you!). This year I’m going to try an Indian fried dessert, malpua, to go with our Indian-spiced latkes. I can’t wait! Do you have a favorite Hanukkah fried dessert?
Whether you make your own Hanukkah donuts or other fried dessert or buy them, these DIY Puffy Paint Donuts are a fun way to talk about the Hanukkah tradition of eating foods fried in oil. And it’s a great process art, fine motor skill activity, and just a lot of fun too!
We have a whole page dedicated to Hanukkah, our Hanukkah Hub. Check it out! It includes some of the Hanukkah activities we plan to do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.
And don’t forget our Hanukkah Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, a wonderful way to introduce Hanukkah! And, now we also have all 13 Jewish holidays bundled together in A Year of Jewish Holidays 3 Part Cards.
If you want to go full-on Hanukkah with your littles, you must try our Hanukkah Activities Packet for Early Learners! I am so excited about all the Hanukkah-themed literacy, fine motor skills, math, and play fun!
The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:
Chag Sameach!
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[…] have done numerous DIY puffy paint activities before (like these donuts and these ice cream cones!) and they are always a hit. There is so much forgiveness in these […]
[…] don’t have to be a professional pastry chef to whip up the puffy paint frosting for these DIY donuts from With Love, Ima (also found here on With Love From Ima’s Instagram account). Simply mix equal […]