Stay-at-home fun

I have been terrible at keeping up with this blog, mainly due to the fact that I now have a crazy-fun, super energetic toddler running around all day.  I am able to post some pictures to facebook to keep family updated, but here is nice too.

I have been getting the opportunity to practice being a stay-at-home mom lately, and thanks to some great ideas from pinterest, I have been having a blast with it.  Just this week we made homemade microwave puffy paint, a color wheel game, played with sensory salt, and some fun crafts (can't post those yet until we send them out and they are received). 

The puffy paint was a HUGE hit, keeping Cole entertained for at least an hour.  It was also super easy, and cheap!  All great things for a one income family.  To make it, mix together one cup flour, one cup salt, and about 1/2-3/4 cup water until you get a good consistency.  I think we ended up using more water, but I didn't really measure that.  Cole helped me measure the ingredients and even got to mix the paint.  Next, I scooped out 'paint' into a silicone mold I got at the Target dollar bins and added some food coloring.  This makes the paint completely safe for any child, they could put some in their mouth and nothing would harm them, but I bet it tastes really salty, so I'm sure they wouldn't eat much.

Next, we had a blast painting our pictures and when each one was finished, I popped them in the microwave for 30 seconds (you might try a little less if your microwave is really powerful).  What came out was really neat, Cole was really impressed and wanted to keep making more pictures.  A great activity!  Here's our pictures ...