finger paint

¹ American  

noun

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

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finger-paint ² American  

[fing-ger-peynt] / ˈfɪŋ gərˌpeɪnt /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to paint by using finger paints.

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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

She had all the day’s helpers with her—six kindergarten kids carrying pots of red finger paint—and when Miss Newman screamed, they all dropped their pots and finger paint flew all over the place.

From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson