Camp Mom: Pudding Painting

Sometimes I just hit a wall.  You know when you go.go.go.go and then you just crash?  Yeah, that happened last week.  Family & friends, traveling & exploring.  It all just caught up with me.  Well me and my house.  Ugh, we were a mess folks!  I got sick and the house got gross & it was ugly.  With another trip on the horizon, we needed a break.  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!  Why are you holed up in this house for 3 days!  You lazy mom!)  When this happens I hit the cupboards, fridge & a few pinterest boards to shake things up.  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.  Pudding painting! It’s just as hedonistic as it sounds.  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.  An experience that brought with it something more than just chocolate.  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.  He was in heaven, and loved getting to lick his fingers as many times as he wanted.  But he really loved all the colors & the CREATING!!!  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.  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.  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.  Maybe cheesecake?

So fun & so yummy!

Tara is the mother of a funny, charming and extremely handsome 6 year boy.  She is revamping Tara’s Kitchen Sink a bit and getting ready to bring her readers a little bit of everything.  Make sure to follow her when you’re there… you won’t want to miss any of the brilliant things she has to say!