Make your own face paint

Get a few small containers like baby food jars to store the paints. Place one teaspoon cornstarch (or baby powder), half a teaspoon of cold cream and half teaspoon water in each container and mix well until blended. Add a drop of food colouring one at a time until you get the desired colour for each jar.

It’s definitely recommended to start with the primary colours – red, blue and yellow – as you can mix these together later if you need green, purple or orange. But you will also want a jar of white (just leave the mix on its own without food colouring) and black.

Design ideas

Girls always love butterflies, ladybugs, fairies, dolphins or flower tattoos on their cheeks or arms. While cats, rabbits, unicorns and puppies are popular full-face designs.

Boys will enjoy getting dragon tattoos, or full-faced tiger, monster, vampire, pirate or Spiderman designs.

General Tips

 •Always be sure the child doesn’t have any skin allergies, especially to the ingredients you’re using.

•Start with a clean face. You don’t want to be painting over chocolate or grease, as the paint won’t mix properly. Use Kleenex Wet Wipes or baby wipes for this prior or even after face painting.

•Apply thin layers of paint and allow time to dry in between colours.

•To cover the whole face with one colour quicker, use a make-up sponge.

•Expand your kit with coloured eye liners, fake eyelashes.

•If you’re feeling really brave, or if the kids are older, let them have a go at painting each other’s faces – makes for a great party activity!

•To remove the face paint, simply wet a face towel with warm soapy water and wipe off. Usually, by the end of the day the homemade paint would dry up and mostly peel off on its own (as do most good store bought face paint brands).

•Some kids will feel giggly when the brush touches their face. Relax and laugh or make jokes to distract them.