How to Watercolor Sugar Cookies

Sometimes I get these crazy ideas and wonder how in the world I’m going to pull it off and if it will even work. Having a party to watercolor sugar cookies is one of those. My kids love to decorate cookies, but I wanted to come up with a new way they haven’t tried before to keep their attention. New activities always keep them busy longer.

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How to Watercolor Sugar Cookies

I baked a batch of sugar cookies and frosted them with white royal icing. I made them the day before so that the icing would have plenty of time to dry and would have a smooth, firm surface for painting. This was only the second time I have tried frosting cookies with royal icing. I am not an expert by any means, but doing plain white cookies is much easier than making designs with frosting. Plus, these cookies were for a kids party and they were just going to paint and color on them, so I wasn’t too worried about flawlessly frosted cookies.

Supplies + Tips

I ordered paint brushes and tiny palettes so that each person could have their own set of edible paints, and lost the palettes. Ugh! If you plan on doing this activity with several people and are responsible enough not to lose the palettes ahead of time, (haha!) I highly recommend them. They are the perfect size.  I ended up using these little egg dishes, which I love, so all wasn’t lost. The kids were good about sharing them. I ended up adding a small spoonful of water to each color at the party. It helped the watercolors go on so much smoother and brighter. There are recipes for liquid watercolors for cookies, but I was worried about the kids spilling those so I made the solid ones. Little did I know I would be pouring water in the solid ones and creating the same risk anyway. You learn as you go.

I also had a pack of food-safe markers for the kids to use on the cookies. They worked so well. I thought they might dig into the frosting when the kids pressed on them while coloring, but they didn’t. I was pleasantly surprised.

Decorating the Table

I used white butcher paper to cover the table and drew a bunch of eggs with a black marker. My kids were the art directors for this part and told me which patterns or shapes to draw on each egg. They love being involved with the setup of parties. After the kids decorated their cookies, they could use the watercolors to paint the eggs on the table cloth. Because they might get a little carried away with the watercolors, I placed a cheap, plastic tablecloth underneath the butcher to protect my table incase the water soaked through.

The centerpiece of the table was a tin tray filled with plastic eggs they could decorate. The kids were too busy watercoloring the sugar cookies and tablecloth, they never made it to the eggs. It still made for a fun and very easy centerpiece.

Everyone was so proud of their cookie masterpieces and loved exploring a new way to decorate them. This party was a success and involved kids ages 1-4. I would love to see what older children could create while watercoloring sugar cookies. I think they could whip up some really pretty and fun designs. If you’re looking for a fun activity this Easter, give this one a try. You’ll love it!