finger paint

¹ American  

noun

1. a jellylike paint, used chiefly by children in painting, usually with their fingers.

---

finger-paint ² American  

[fing-ger-peynt] / ˈfɪŋ gərˌpeɪnt /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to paint by using finger paints.

---

Other Word Forms

• finger painting noun

Etymology

Origin of finger paint¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Origin of finger-paint²

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Those on a more restrictive budget can achieve more or less the same effect with Legos and finger paint somewhere with a food truck in the vicinity.

From The Guardian • Feb. 26, 2018

Ever since my son was a baby, he’s had a fascination with airplanes, peering up at them through his long eyelashes, and drawing contrails in the sky with white finger paint.

From Salon • Jul. 4, 2017

Younger children are getting a faceful of finger paint.

From Time • Jul. 30, 2010

He can get a blob of finger paint all over a sheet of paper.

From Time Magazine Archive

We turned into a room where a woman was sitting with a bunch of kids around a short table, teaching them to finger paint.

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin