Types of paint safe for children to make handprints out of, on canvas I am looking to help our boys (5 and 7 years old) make their mother something like this for her birthday, but I have zero experience with painting beyond whatever I did in elementary school!
I'm looking to (likely) put this on a canvas and need the paint to be safe for them to make their handprints out of.
What types of paint could I use that would be safe for them to dip their hands in for the handprint part, safe to work with (I'll make sure the space is well ventilated) and that is compatible with canvas or a similar material?
Unless its the only option, I'm not interested in using washable/temporary paints, or using paper as the medium, because I would like this to look nice-ish and be something she could frame and put on the wall for a long time.
If they wear clothes you don't mind ruining (good quality acrylic paint will not wash out of cloth completely, ever) and you supervise and help them wash off the paint afterward and put down a large drop cloth to protect carpet/wooden floors (tile is cleanable), or do it outside, student grade acrylics should be fine.
At those ages they are unlikely to try eating the paint.
I did something similar with my daughter and nephews as a gift for their grandparents when the youngest was only three (granted a reasonably intelligent 3) only with many different prints in various colours.
Make sure the canvas is primed for acrylic. You can just buy a pre-stretched primed student canvas at an art/craft store or order online in the size you want. That way you don't have to have it framed.