sunday kids' craft: paintin' with puddin'

It's hot!  Not warm . . . HOT!  This isn't a new flash for most of the country, but I'm a heat wimp!  We live in a high-humidity area, so when the temp outside is 93 degrees, it feels more like 103 degrees.  It's the kind of hot that makes it hard to breath.  It's the kind of hot that makes me not want to put even a toe outside the door.  It's the kind of hot that's hot!  My kids, of course, are not heat wimps.  To them hot weather is an excuse to run in the sprinkler, go to the pool, splash in water buckets on the back porch.  

As I watched the weather report on Friday evening, I began formulating my plan to avoid going outside all weekend.  I knew I would have to bring out my best and brightest ideas to distract my children.  So . . . while they were snug in their beds, I began plotting at 10:15 on Friday evening.  Yes, I'm a devious mother! 

Unfortunately, the first full coherent sentence out of my oldest daughter's mouth on Saturday morning was, "Can we go to the pool today?"  She didn't even give me a chance.  She's THAT good!  Thankfully, it was only 7:30 AM, so I could easily deflect the question with, "The pool isn't open yet."  Then I quickly distracted her with the lure of breakfast.  At 9 AM while we were making forts out of the couch cushions, the dreaded question surfaced again, "Mommy, can we go to the pool today?" 

"The pool isn't open yet, but let's put on our swimsuits, lay out these fort blankets on the floor and pretend we are in the pool," I said in a really high-pitched voice hoping they would think that was exciting. 

Guess what?  They did!  We played in the "pool" - floaties, pool toys, life vests and all - for almost two hours.  Incredible! 

And when I could tell that their interest in our very dry blanket pool was growing thin, I had this little activity up my sleeve . . . paintin' with puddin' . . . and we did it in swimsuits to make it seem even more fun!  (Why does everything seem more fun to kids if they are wearing the swimsuits?)

The next time you are either avoiding the heat outside in the middle of summer or the cold outside in the middle of winter, pull out your almost-past-due-pudding that you know you won't use before it expires and start painting!

What you need:
-pudding in various colors
-milk
-leak-proof container, bowl and whisk
-wax paper
-tape
-paint brushes

What you do:
1) Make each color of pudding separately according to package directions but use 1/4 cup less milk than directed.  We only had two different colors.  We made one color with the quick-shake method in a leak-proof container.  My oldest daughter LOVED shaking that pudding.  We made the other color with the stir method because my youngest wanted to stir not shake.

2)  Let pudding set for about 5 minutes.

3)  While it's setting, put large sheets of wax paper on work surface and tape them down.

4)  Pour pudding into little bowls and begin finger painting or painting with a brush.  We finger painted first on one sheet and then put down a new sheet for painting with brushes.  Starting with finger painting helps them get the need to touch, squish and taste the pudding out of the way.

5)  When the paintings dry, the colors become even brighter and more vibrant.  (A word of advice . . . don't keep these around for more than a day in the summer unless you want to host an ant party in your house.)

Enjoy a wonderfully fun and messy (what else would you expect from me) activity that will keep you out of the sun on a day hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk . . .literally. 

Craft on!