How We Roll

I just posted this on my frugal blog but since many of you don't check that blog, I'm posting it here as well. This was an activity that Brianna really enjoyed doing!

If it were up to Brianna (27 months old) these are the things we would do all. day. long. Read, eat, play with blocks, watch Dora, take pictures of ourselves/look at the pictures/laugh at the pictures, wrestle, and hide things that aren't supposed to be hidden (the remote control was gone for 5 days a couple of weeks ago and the cordless phone has been gone for 6 days as this post is being composed). So I am always trying to come up with things to do so we aren't constantly doing the same things over and over. One thing I saw on the internet and thought Bri would enjoy was finger painting. It was incredibly easy to do and we easily painted for an hour. Then, about 20 minutes after I had finished cleaning up she asked if we could do it again. Uh... not twice in the same day, hah! Anyway, this is a great thing to do with your child. Hunter would eat the paint so I waited until he was asleep to do it so use your discretion with your children.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups cold water
1/4 cup liquid dish soap
Food coloring



In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Whisk to combine. Gradually pour in the cold water and whisk. Set heat to medium and stir occasionally. Once the mixture begins to bubble, turn heat to low and whisk constantly until mixture is thickened and gel-like. Remove from heat and let cool completely, whisking occasionally.


Once cooled, stir in dish soap. Divide mixture into small airtight containers, one for each color you want to have. Add food coloring into each container and mix well. Use immediately or cover and use later.


I just did red and blue because I was making it pretty spontaneously, and I wasn't sure how crazy it was going to get.

Okay, I set a couple of her pages outside to dry to see what they'd look like. I don't recommend it, because as you can see, they're not very pretty when they dry!

Bri takes my picture to prove I am painting as well:

I'm sure you can tell this is a GREAT project for days that are too hot or cold to be outside. If we could have gone outside that would have been great too. Especially since someone in our house may be getting an art easel that I bought for a steal in Georgia for Christmas... I can hang up a blank canvas and really let her get into the painting that way!

Obviously the paint is not professional-grade or anything like that, but hey, consider this - you don't have to get worked up over paint spilled on your floor or anyone's clothes, and it's REALLY easy to clean up. Well worth it, I'd say!

I got my information for this craft idea from this website.