# Scented Apple Pie Paints
> Purée a can of apple pie filling, tint it red, yellow and green, and shake in apple pie spice to make a sweet-smelling, taste-safe finger paint. Kids paint inside drawn apple outlines, squish with pretend apples, or print with real ones.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/fall-activities-homemade-edible-apple-paints/
- Ages: 1–5 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: high
- Time: prep 15 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 2 kids
- Skills: fine-motor, sensory-exploration, colors, art
- Cautions: food-dye, ingestion-risk, corn

## Materials (one batch)
- 1 can Apple pie filling
- Apple pie spice
- Liquid food coloring (red, yellow, green)
- Cornstarch (optional)
- 1 piece Blender or food processor (household)
- 3 piece Small bowls (household)
- 3 piece Spoons (household)
- 1 sheet White paper (household)
- 1 piece Marker for drawing apple outlines (optional) (household)
- 1 piece Pretend (toy) apples (optional)
- 1 piece Real apples (optional)

## Safety
- An adult purées the pie filling. Blend until completely smooth so no apple chunks remain, because chunks are a choking risk for babies and toddlers.
- Taste-safe, not a snack: the paint is made from food ingredients, so an accidental taste is no cause for panic. It is still paint, though. Don't let kids eat it, especially once it has been on the paper and table. Pie filling is also very sugary.
- Keep the spice away from eyes, and wash hands and faces after painting.
- Food color can stain hands, clothes and surfaces.
- Check the labels on the pie filling and spice blend for allergens before using them with babies or kids with food allergies.
- Supervise closely at all times, especially with babies and toddlers.

## Before you start
- If you have kids who like to plan, draw apple outlines on the painting paper.

## Steps
1. Adult: grind 1 can of apple pie filling into a smooth purée.
2. Divide the purée into three bowls.
3. Squeeze red, yellow or green food color into each bowl, a couple of drops at a time, and stir.
4. Shake in lots of apple pie spice until you can smell it.
5. Optional: stir in some cornstarch for a thicker finger-paint consistency.
6. Finger paint the colors inside the apple outlines, or spread the paint all over the paper.
7. Squish and stamp the paint with pretend apples.
8. Another day, try printing with real apples dipped in the paint.

## Tips
- My toddler usually over-squeezes glue and food color. This time she had learned to control it and could squeeze out 2 drops at a time. Hurray for developing fine motor skills!
- Cornstarch in the paint made it such a fun sensory paint.
- Without the cornstarch, I think the paint would be suitable for printing as well.
- My preschooler's verdict: she liked finger painting with apple paint MUCH better than printing with it.
- Planners and explorers can share the table. My preschooler had me draw apples first and carefully used every color, while my toddler just spread as much paint as she possibly could.
- These tiny moments are a great way to catch a glimpse of how much their patience and fine motor skills have grown.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

While fall is not technically here, we love to get ready for the change of season by engaging in easy and fun **[fall activities](https://www.funlittles.com/category/season/fall-season/)[.](https://www.funlittles.com/category/season/fall-season/)**. Check out all our fun **fall activities** we did last year. On to today's fun! Regular washable kids paint is great for [**art activities.**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/) My kids and I'm sure yours adore **painting**. Every now and then the kids get a kick out of painting with [**homemade paint**](https://www.funlittles.com/art-activities-epsom-salt-painting/) and generally something that is NOT conventionally used for painting to create beautiful art. With that in mind, let me remind you about the theme for DAY 2 of the [**fall play recipes series**](https://www.funlittles.com/fall-activities-apple-dough-recipe/) - fall themed paints. Check out day 1's post on [**fall themed apple dough.**](https://www.funlittles.com/fall-activities-apple-dough-recipe/) We whipped up these super easy edible paints, scented and homemade that would be **perfect for babies and toddlers**. In our house even my preschooler was more than excited to try out this new paint.

- Apple Pie Filling
- Apple Spice
- Food Colors
- Cornstarch(optional)

These scented, edible paints just welcome the new fall season with 2 big arms. They smell so delicious ( my 4 year old's words) I used up 1 can of apple pie filling and ground it to a purée consistency. I divided the purée into three bowl and set them out.  Just the sight of these delicious paints elicited many oohs and aahs from the kids. My preschooler added the colors ( red, yellow and green) to the fillings. My toddler had a chance to squeeze the food color. Every time she gets a hold of glue or food color things don't necessarily go the way want, read excess squeezing!! However this time I observed that my toddler has learned to exercise control while squeezing things. Now she able to squeeze out 2 drops a time. Hurray for developing [**fine motor skills.**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/fine-motor-activities/)



Then we added lots of apple pie spice until we were actually able to smell the deliciousness.



The best part is these fall apple paints are EDIBLE and baby-safe. If you add the corn starch you will get a nice finger paint consistency that is perfect for babies.



My toddler loved painting, squishing with pretend apples. Unlike her sister my toddler did not have any set goals while making art. She loves exploring by spreading as much paint as you can possibly can on the paper.



My lovely preschooler on the other hand, adores making a plan first. She had me draw the apples first on the paper and then she took her time finger painting the delicious scented apple paints into the apples. She was very specific about using all the colors. These tiny moments are a great way to catch a glimpse of their growth- how much their patience, tolerance, their fine motor skills have developed.



All the apples were painted with so much care and utmost concentration.



Her finished product!



The following day we even tried printing with real apples. My preschooler's verdict: I liked finger painting with apple paint MUCH better than printing with the paint. Cornstarch in the paint made it such a fun sensory paint. Although I think without the cornstarch the paint would be suitable for printing as well.



**Thanks for reading**

***To see what the other blogs did for our fall themed paint day visit the following links***

**Apple Printing Eruptions with Sidewalk Chalk Paint.** from Learn Play Imagine

[**Edible Whipped Paints for Fall**](http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/09/homemade-edible-whipped-paints-fall.html) from Fun At Home With Kids

[**Cranberry Fall Paint**](http://www.housingaforest.com/homemade-cranberry-fall-paint-recipe) from Housing A Forest

These edible paints are great for babies and toddlers.



**Some highlights**

On to the post