Temporary Hair Color for Kids: 6 Safest Products to Try

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a mother and toddler on a motorcycle ready to try temporary hair color for kids
Author Name: Mia Barnes
Date: Thursday August 10, 2023

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Updated July, 2024

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. 

What Is Temporary Hair Color? 

Temporary hair color is anything that alters the shade of your hair. It ranges from professional semi-permanent dyes that stay on through several shampoos to chalks that rinse out easily with a little soap and water. 

Temporary hair color for kids differs from permanent dyes in that it eventually returns their hair to its natural color without cutting it off and letting it regrow. It’s generally gentler to your child’s hair as it contains few, if any, harsh chemicals like peroxide. As such, it rarely causes heartbreaking damage, even if your little one accidentally leaves it on too long before rinsing. 

You can buy commercial preparations or create DIY temporary hair color for kids at home using household items. You can even invest in clips that let your little one add a few streaks of pink or purple for fun or school colors for upcoming cheer competitions. 

Benefits of Temporary Hair Color for Kids 

Believe it or not, the best temporary hair color for kids has some impressive benefits, including the following: 

  • Promotes agency: A sense of agency is your belief that your actions make a positive difference — your life isn’t up to the capricious winds of fate. A strong sense of agency is crucial to psychological health as a lack of it can lead to anxiety and depression. 
  • Inspires self-confidence: A child who likes how they look has more confidence, which helps them approach others and aids their social development. 
  • Lends a sense of belonging: It’s not unusual for a group of friends or members of a sports team to show their unity by adopting a similar hairstyle. 
  • Allows creativity: Children often face enormous pressures to conform. The best temporary hair colors for kids allow your little one to express their personality, even if their school has a strict uniform policy. 

6 Options for the Best Temporary Hair Color for Kids 

The best temporary hair color for kids may depend on how you use it. For example, someone on the swim team is better off choosing a semi-permanent dye rather than a 1-day paint. Here are six options to consider when letting your little one transform their locks. 

1. DIY 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 large 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. 

Some of the best clip-on hair extensions you can find for a low cost include:

3. 1-Day Temporary Hair Color Spray

When you want a truly temporary hair color for kids, seek 1-day spray in options. Many formulations come in various hues that are 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 at school or a first experiment with hair color. Some brands to try include: 

4. 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. Some brands to try include: 

5. Hair Paint Wax

While many of these options so far work best on blonde and light brown hair, 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. Some brands you should try include: 

6. 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. Like many chalks and sprays, these work best on light-colored hair. Achieving the hue shown on the box often requires bleach on darker strands, which permanently alters your child’s color. However, you’ll get gorgeous highlights, and a hint of the right shade is a good way to try it before committing to a permanent job. 

Manufacturers have designed the following with the younger crowd in mind:

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. 

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