Pudding Painting

I am not sure where I got this idea from but a few weeks ago I let my kids do some finger painting with pudding.  They had a lot of fun.  I just taped some wax paper to the table, plopped a few spoonfuls of chocolate pudding down, and let them have at it.  You will notice that the young ones are wearing very little clothing.  That's because a good follow-up activity to this is bath time.

Sky and LK creating a masterpiece

Star and Lil get to work

Of course some tasting is required.

What a messy face!

Working together

Getting even messier as time goes on.

Mmmm, this paint is pretty tasty.

Happy first day of spring.  Ha ha ha, spring, that is funny.  It is -10*C outside with a windchill factor of -20*C.  There are snow drifts taller than me out there, and it is blowing so hard I can't see across the yard.  Happy spring indeed.  Oh well spring will come when it is ready, I guess.

Anyways I thought I would share a little about my afternoon yesterday.  I was in the bedroom folding laundry and when I poked my head out to check on the kiddos I discovered LK trying to cut LT's hair. After a stern lecture (which I'm sure did absolutely no good) I encouraged him to cut some paper instead.  But as he had cut a bunch of paper that morning he wasn't interested.  So I gave him some of my scraps of yarn to cut.  He did try that a bit but they were a little hard to cut.  Then I printed some pictures of sheep and decided we would decorate them by gluing the yarn on the them. I let him paint the glue on the sheep and then add the yarn.  He was more interested in the painting then and so moved on to painting a bunch of pictures.  LT, of course, was right in the middle of it all and joined in as well.  Needless to say I still have laundry to fold.

PS.  This morning as we were cuddling in bed LK was playing with my hair and said "cut hair mom?".  I don't think he has gotten this idea out of his system yet so I will have to keep a close eye on the scissors.

Toddler Activites: Playdough

Playdough is a very popular toddler and preschool activity.  I have tried various playdough recipes over the years and I think I may have discovered my favorite.  I kept a batch in a ziploc bag in the fridge and it was still soft and pliable a year later.  Also the kool-aid makes nice colours and adds a nice scent.

Kool-Aid Playdough

2 1/2 cups floor

2 small pkg. unsweetened kool-aid

1/2 cup salt

1 tbsp cream of tarter

3 tbsp oil

2 cups boiling water

First mix the dry ingredients together and then cut in the oil.

Then carefully add the boiling water.  Watch the bubbles and then mix it all together.

Knead until it is nice smooth ball and then let the kiddos go to town.

Making cookies is a favorite activity to do with playdough.

If you are lucky you may be able to finish the dishes while he plays. Or he may insist you play with him which is okay too.  Playdough is fun for adults as well.

Toddler Activites: Button Sorting

The other day as I was cleaning I came across some inserts from chocolate boxes that were laying around leftover from the holidays.  As I was getting ready to toss them in the garbage I thought maybe LK would like to play with them for a while.  I got out our jar of buttons and poured them on a jelly roll pan (using it as a tray to keep the buttons somewhat contained).  Then I had him sort the buttons into the chocolate insert.  It kept him occupied for a little while and while he wasn't all that interested in sorting them he would find matching buttons and put them together.

Of course, buttons are a choking hazard, so if you do this be sure to supervise your child.