Monkey Pudding

Emily has to bring a birthday treat to Pre-K tomorrow. She chose clementines but our household can't seem to hold back on produce so I had to make something else. I rummaged around the pantry and found Jell-o instant chocolate pudding, Nila wafers, Cheerios, red food coloring and clear plastic cups for Monkey Pudding. 

The kiddos helped with this "recipe" but really it's just a matter of mixing and assembling.

First, we put the clear plastic cups in a cupcake pan for a handy pudding carrier. Next, we mixed the instant pudding in a large measuring cup with a spout. Then, we poured it into the cups and put the pan in the fridge so the pudding could set up. In the mean time, the kiddos counted and sorted the Cheerios to make eyes and counted out the number of Nila wafers needed for the mouths. I squirted some red food coloring into a dish and painted smiles on the Nila wafers with a clean craft brush. After the pudding set up and the Nila wafers dried, the little monkeys assembled the monkey pudding. We had fun, it was easy and I saved myself a trip to the store.

AFTERTHOUGHTS: I halved mini cookies for ears but we decided to eat them instead. The cup didn't leave much room. In the future, I think I'll make monkey cookies or cupcakes and add the halved mini cookies for ears and maybe candy bananas from a box of Runts. 

Good Clean Fun

"To be an artist means to never avert one's eyes." -Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are into painting right now. I bought a cheap set of watercolors for their Easter baskets and now they ask to paint all the time. I’m tired of cleaning clothes, brushes, paint, table, chairs and kids, not to mention finding a good spot for the mountain of wet papers. So thanks to the never-ending knowledge of the internet, I found a recipe for DIY bathtub paint as follows: 1/3 c. clear liquid soap (They have sensitive skin so I opted for Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Wash), 1 Tb. cornstarch and a few drops of food coloring.

Honestly, I haven’t tried the exact above recipe. After telling them about making bathtub paint, I discovered we were out of cornstarch so I substituted with baking powder. Is that good or bad? Well, it turned out to foam up a bit but after a few stirs we had a bathtub goop similar to Gak (remember that stinky weird substance that was only fun because of the disgusting noises it made). These little princesses weren’t about to touch the “gloopey gloop”. Thing 1 and Thing 2 won’t even lick their own chocolate covered fingers. Weird, I know. But with art brushes in hand, the tub walls were suddenly covered in blue slashes.

Thank you, Internet. Now I can sit for a minute and drink hot coffee from a ceramic mug (not lukewarm coffee in a travel mug).



You miss a lot of wonderful art if nudity is censored. :)