Temporary Hair Color for Kids: 6 Safest Products to Try

Every parent deals with their child wanting to take more control of their appearance, experimenting with clothing and more. Unlike getting their ears pierced, temporary hair color for kids is actually an easy outlet for their creative and independent inclinations. However, you want to make sure you’re using the safest products possible with no harmful chemicals. To help cut down on your research time, we’ve gathered several options for you and your child to try out. 

1. Kool-Aid Hair Dye

If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, you’re in luck because you might already have the ingredients for this next one in your cupboard. Kool-Aid is a fun and safe way to dye your child’s hair temporarily. 

Make a concentrated mix with water and let your child’s hair rest in the mixture for at least 10 minutes before rinsing. If you want to dye larger swathes of their hair, mix it with conditioner and paint it on like regular dye. 

Either way, make sure you wear gloves, or your hands will match their hair. The major drawback of this method is it only works well on blond and light brown hair. 

2. Clip-In Hair Extensions

For the most temporary hair color for kids, purchase some clip-in hair extensions. You can find versions of these just about anywhere, and they come in a multitude of colors, lengths and finishes. Your kiddo can have glittery pink highlights one day and a black bun the next. There’s no limit to the creativity they can express with this mix-and-match option. 

3. Colorista 1-Day Temporary Hair Color Spray

When you want truly temporary hair color for kids, Colorista by L’Oreal has a one-day spray-in option. It comes in 11 different hues and is free of ammonia and peroxide. All you need to do is spray it onto your child’s hair, and it will stay until you wash it out. This is the perfect option for crazy hair day or a first experiment with hair color. 

4. Fresh Monster Hair Coloring Chalk

Hair chalk is a fairly easy method for kids to experiment with color. The best part is it typically washes out after one shampoo. All you need to do is get the hair wet and run the desired color along the strands. After depositing the chalk, blow dry the hair to seal everything in. This would be a fun activity for a kid’s birthday party or sleepover. 

Fresh Monster’s offering takes hair chalk to a new level with its clean formula. It’s hypoallergenic and is free of parabens, triclosan and sulfate. You can get this vegan hair chalk in a box of 12 different colors. 

5. A Splash of Color Hair Paint Wax

While many of these options so far work best on blonde and light brown hair, this hair paint wax is designed with curly girls and dark hair tones in mind. Similar to the chalk, you’ll need to wet the strands first and then apply the wax with your fingers. Once it dries, it will stay in until you wash it out. On particularly porous hair, it may stain for a few washings. 

6. Punky Colour Semi-Permanent Conditioning Hair Colour

If your child has identified a color they love and want to try it more permanently, you could go with a semi-permanent dye. However, many of these options require bleaching, which destroys their hair in the process.  This product from Punky Colour conditions as it dyes so your child’s hair is healthier at the end than when you started. It’s available in five colors and lasts up to 35 washes. 

Temporary Hair Color for Kids Enables Their Creativity

Buying a new wardrobe is expensive, and piercings are permanent. However, experimenting with temporary hair color lets your kids test out new looks without lasting effects or breaking the budget. You have a range of options at your disposal, from clip-in extensions, an extremely temporary hair color for kids, to semi-permanent dye, which lasts a couple of months.