Puffy Paint Snowmen

What about making some homemade puffy paint to continue our Fireflies' snow theme?  I wanted 3D snow for my kids to paint with - and I made it!  I could not believe how easy this was - promise (read on).   I was actually on my way out the door, when I decided to make my paint-snow and the project took all of 10 minutes from beginning to end (with no child involvement, however...).

I gathered my materials.  The recipe calls for equal parts flour, salt and water.

Easy - three ingredients that this non Julia Child has on hand!  I started with 2 T of each and came up with  a smooth runny paste (aka puffy paint).  Since I was going for snow paint, I didn't add any food coloring, but you certainly could.  Wonder how glitter would have responded to this mixture?  Does it microwave?

So far so good...  Next I tried a small circle on a piece of cardboard I had nearby, and microwaved it for 30 secs.   I was so surprised when I removed my test painting from the microwave.  It was dry and puffy!  Oh me of little faith.  Surely it couldn't be this easy.

I was intrigued and decided to go for the snowman.  I used a piece of blue card stock and painted my snowman - quickly. (Remember, I was on my way out the door...)
It took longer in the microwave - about three minutes.  Just make sure the middle is puffy and dry.  You can watch it dry from the outside in.   You can see how the edges of the paper curled up a bit.  Though not a deal breaker - If you have cardboard or foam board, use that, and have your child paint a background scene for their snowman.

Below is my finished product awaiting some painted button eyes, a corncob nose and an old silk hat.   But that will have to wait for when my little ones come to visit.  Oh, how they will love to paint on something other than flat paper AND see their puffy creation come to life!   Perhaps we'll glue on some left over buttons from our last project...

NOTE:  The snowman's head was "cooked" completely - I rushed his body. Probably should have left it in a bit longer.

A perfect impromptu project to do at home if you have flour, salt, and water!

Deni Corbett

Don't forget to save these masterpiece creations
for your Fireflies Presents...

"S is for SNOW"  [Coming soon]

Find a copy of Lois Ehlert's book, Snowballs to inspire the budding creative in your home.  Your child will enjoy poring over the illustrations and identifying the objects selected to adorn Ehlert's snow family!