Camp Mom: Pudding Painting
Sometimes I just hit a wall. Â You know when you go.go.go.go and then you just crash? Â Yeah, that happened last week. Â Family & friends, traveling & exploring. Â It all just caught up with me. Â Well me and my house. Â Ugh, we were a mess folks! Â I got sick and the house got gross & it was ugly. Â With another trip on the horizon, we needed a break. Â Sometime to veg out, clean up and heal our bodies.
I know that we always need that time & I try not to let myself feel guilty, but the guilt always creeps in. (Summer is slipping away! Â Why are you holed up in this house for 3 days! Â You lazy mom!) Â When this happens I hit the cupboards, fridge & a few pinterest boards to shake things up. Â Of course we have the standard games & crafts, but something NEW is needed.
At the end of the week, in the middle of my all out cleaning binge (and before I cleaned my floors), I pulled a rabbit out of my hat!
My very best kindergarten memory is of a silly activity that we did…..finger painting with chocolate pudding. Â Pudding painting! It’s just as hedonistic as it sounds. Â Five year olds gorging on chocolate, messiness as far as the eye can see & PURE JOY!!!
I’ve always wanted to do it with Brayden, but I wanted it to be more. Â An experience that brought with it something more than just chocolate. Â So I spread out our favorite art mat (vinyl sheeting bought on sale & coupon from yardage at Joann’s), plopped B down with a stack of heavy white cardstock & a rainbow of colors of edible finger paint. Â He was in heaven, and loved getting to lick his fingers as many times as he wanted. Â But he really loved all the colors & the CREATING!!! Â It was a huge win & just what we needed to kickstart our return to the land of the living.
I used instant vanilla pudding (the big box) that I had on hand and gel food coloring. Â I’m sure you could use regular food coloring too, but I might suggest using the pie recipe instead to start with a thicker pudding since the liquid will water it down a bit. Â My colors came out really vibrant, but I did have to fight the yellow of the vanilla a bit, so I might use something whiter next time. Â Maybe cheesecake?
So fun & so yummy!
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How yummy! I love the colors and it would be a lot of fun for my kids as well.
I love this! How does the finished art piece end up? I ask because I have a one year old who I’d love to start coloring/painting with as safely as possible, but where I am currently staying there is a bit of an ant problem. If a pudding painting stays sticky, it would only feed the ants.
Thanks!
I would probably make it a process activity and throw away the end product. No reason to invite the ants in!