Pudding Is NOT Just For Dessert!

Pudding is an easy, cheap, fun dessert. You can do so much with it! But Bill Cosby never told us Jello puddin' could be used as an art form now did he?

When I was teaching Preschool, I had a ton of idea books, numerous copies of projects that met every need for children. One of the "art" projects was painting with pudding. I had filed that idea in the back of my mind until I watched an episode of Jon and Kate plus Eight. They had their children paint with pudding! Ah Ha! I thought to myself here is a great project to do with the kids since I have their toys were packed away. Since I had packed away most of the pots, I bought some Jello pudding cups,(yes I spent the money on the expensive stuff, not the store's off brand, but we were going to do this right!) Anyway, Lavinia and Liam had a blast.

Here are the instructions:

-Buy pudding in your child's favorite flavor. (I guarantee you will be dipping your finger in too!)

-Thick paper like construction paper.

-A place that can be easily cleaned. (Outdoors is great or the kitchen table)

-Have your bath items ready. Clear a straight pathway to the bathroom. Little hands love to touch other places on their way to the bath, even if you tell them, "Do not touch anything with your pudding hands!" They will do it just to see the cause and effect of how pudding looks on your couch, wall, piano etc.

*A tip: if you are outdoors, hose them down out there. If not, do not fill up the bathtub, first rinse down the children first to get the excess of them.

-Lay down your paper. Give each child a tablespoon of pudding on the paper. I added two tablespoons, one chocolate, one vanilla. Make sure your children's hands are washed, and let them use their hands to create.

-When done, lay the creations somewhere they can dry. Try not to let them lay flat, the moisture will cause the paper to stick to a table. You can hang them, or drape them over something. If you do lay them flat, put newspaper or more paper under them.

**Warning*** This activity is not for the faint of heart! If you hate messes, or are remotely Obsessive Compulsive, then this activity is not for you! : )

This is inevitable, fingers just cannot get the creamy goodness into the mouth fast enough!