Alright, I'm not a parent but I am a teacher, so I feel compelled to interject. I understand that the mess included in activities like finger-painting can be daunting, but the sensory input derived from these activities is unbelievably beneficial to children. Please, PLEASE let your kids get sticky and messy and stain their clothes. I promise you, they'll grow out of that adorable t-shirt soon enough, and they'll just remember how much fun they had playing with dirt or glue or paint.

If you really can't stand the mess, just squirt some shaving cream on a table and let them squish it around. It cleans up super easy, and your kids will smell great afterward, and they still get the sensory input.

interesting idea but my kids would not be happy with this. Maybe if they never had paints out before and it was introductory but once they see the joy of the messy fun of painting, it would be hard to go back. We paint in the bathtub alot though and that's a good compromise or outside when we can! I admit the mess is a pain.

I totally agree with teacher Henrich, BUT my on and a half year old continually tries to eat the paint and gets so frustrated that he's not allowed to, that he doesn't have any fun painting. This is a nice way for children that are normally too young, to experience painting too.

chocolate pudding is another good thing to try "painting" with.

I find this really depressing like in a Soviet orphanage kind of way. Finger paint is a senorial experience.

If you have an "eater" than just use something edible like yogurt or pudding. If you don't want to reinforce "eating" choose something that they can safely eat but doesn't taste good.

Disclaimer: No Soviet orphans were harmed in this blog entry.

Well, I doubt a bad taste would stop him, he also eats sand, body lotion and diaper rash creme, and with much conviction so.... I personally wouldn't consider these 'good tastes' :-)

Common, it is not such a bad project. It will surely not replace painting but it looks like fun project. I will give it a try this afternoon for sure.

I think it looks fun. I am going to give it a go.

Our son won't finger paint. He refuses to get his hand dirty. He also doesn't eat finger foods and is AMAZING with a spoon for a little one. This might be a gateway to painting and more sensory activities for him.

To all the naysayers: this is actually a fabulous activity for:

- babies who are really too young to fingerpaint but want to do what the bigger kids are doing
- distracting children at a restaurant, doctor's office, etc - no mess, infinitely reusable, and at a restaurant a big enough ziploc bag could serve as a wipeable placemat.
- kids who are sensory defensive

Also, it looks really cool when you tape it to a window and let the kids work on it there.
Long story short, my kids get plenty of opportunities to get thoroughly messy and dirty. Activities like this can have a place in our life as well.

LOVE this idea! My daughter loves finger painting, and I love letting her do it, but I can see her loving this too. It'd be a totally different experience! Definitely going to try it!

Love it, love it, love it! Listen peeps, this is a great idea. It's an ALTERNATIVE to conventional thinking and that's always appreciated (thanks AT).

BTW- people tend to blog in extremes. Just because you like this idea doesn't mean you child will ALWAYS fingerpaint in a bag or NEVER get messy. Just sayin'...

Wow, lots of negativity about a creative idea! We've done this, taping the bag to the window and letting the light shine through. My son experimented with making different types of tire tracks through the paint: monster truck, train, etc. It doesn't dry, so it can be used for as long as you want. Lots of kids love trying something new and different.

Oh, and our first zipper bag was a cheapie one, and started to leak...might want to double-bag.

Yes, yes, yes! It's great for babies who want to do what the big kids are doing, but who still eat the paint. And no, I do not want her painting with pudding, thanks.

Yes, I don't think anyone was suggesting banning finger painting! A lot of nifty things can be done using this type of plastic bag trick. It's really cool! I'm going to try it today.

Also, I would certainly consider this a "sensory" activity! A child's hands don't have to be coated to be wholly appreciating and utilizing the senses. There is a lot happening here with the squishiness of the paint inside the bag, the sensation of swirling the paint. This type of activity to me is more like rice table vs. water table... both are cool and fun, both sensory. Protesting this type of thing is sort of like suggesting taking away a child's etch-a-sketch because it isn't "real drawing" :P

Okay, apologies for posting so many times about this, but we tried it and loved it! I had a feeling it'd be a nifty quick activity when I saw this post and it was. After I filled the bag with paint and taped it closed, I had my son (almost 3) trace shapes in the paint, blend the colors in various ways, shake the bag, squish the bag... this is a really cool sensory activity! Try it before deciding that it's a too-clean alternative to finger painting, it was fun :)

Not sure if this photo will come through, but here's what ours looked like... we hung it up in the kitchen window: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/401201_10150610185526928_743576927_11213171_657227881_n.jpg

I am going to try this. I agree that this is not the same as finger painting, but it will be something fun to do when there is not enough time to get messy.