Pudding Paint Pumpkins

Today I wanted to paint with something my toddler friends could paint with without worry, as a few of them put all the paints in their mouths. Pudding paint is the answer.

Supplies: Vanilla pudding, food coloring, paper plates, and paint brushes.

I chose the pre-made pudding option since I keep it in my classroom. You may want to make your own pudding. You will also need food coloring. I used 2 drops of red and 3 drops of yellow.

Our theme today was Halloween/Pumpkins. We read a great lift the flap book called Eek-A-Boo. It is simple enough to keep their attention, yet interactive.

I had my friends paint a paper plate pumpkin. Next week we will add the face after the pudding has a chance to dry.

I also did the popular 5 Little Pumpkin Felt Board Story. I found my copy here, at Mommy School by Oopsey Daisy. She has a great H is for Halloween pack.

Have you painting with pudding before?

5 Senses

This week we explored our 5 senses. Well actually we always explore our senses, I just decided to point it out to my little friends.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do you See? started us off. I love having the kids act out the book and act like the animals. We pretended we were searching for things to see by placing our hands over our eyes. It was obvious that this story has been read before because many of my friends yelled out the answers before I turned the page.

Our art activity involved pudding painting. I wanted them to feel the thickness of the pudding, smell the vanilla, and after adding food coloring exploring the different colors.

All you need is vanilla pudding, food coloring and/or Kool-Aid, paint brushes, and paper. I don't plan on my friends keeping the paintings; it is more about the process. This is always hard for parents to do; letting their kids make something that doesn't look like what we know it to look like.

My 2-3 year olds had a blast with this. They sat for a good 10 minutes. Some dipped their hand in the pudding and some just stuck with brushes. I had two that sat even longer. I am not sure if it is because they can really feel what they are moving around on the paper, the smell, or the color. Perhaps it is a bit of all of that.

We supplemented our theme with Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, and home made play dough at the sensory table.

Hot Chocolate Day!

This week our theme is Hot Chocolate! I don't know about you, but I love a good cup of hot chocolate. I really wanted to incorporate this into our play friends class. I got the idea from Deborah at Teach Preschool. If you have not checked it out, you really need to.

I loved the idea of having the kids paint their own hot chocolate, so that is what we did. Originally I was going to have them paint with brown paint scented with cocoa powder. I changed my mind and we painted with...wait for it...chocolate pudding! Oh my gosh it smelled so good. I cannot believe none of the kids tasted it! I was ready to dive in.

Then I had them paint the marshmallows with marshmallows dipped in white paint.

The finished products.

I also made chocolate scented play dough. Home made play dough is always a hit in my class and at home. I cannot recommend it enough. It is simple and there are a ton of recipes out there.

This picture is showing it more light brown, it really is a deep chocolate brown.

Overall, I felt it was a hit. The kids sat longer at the table then they had in a while. The thick texture of the pudding made painting more fun; not to mention the marshmallows! I think my son was the only one who ate one. 

Finally, my guy helped clean up the room after class. He took this seriously. He wiped down tons of toys! I taught him well. 

Have you played with chocolate/foods in your class or at home?