Dinosaurs and Frozen Sensory Snow

I saw this awesome recipe for Shivery Snow Dough from Learn with Play at Home a few months back and thought it was totally brilliant!  A freezing cold snow dough in the hot summer sounded just perfect.  I decided to make a different snow dough, but followed her add glitter and freeze steps.  :)  

I wanted to use something that crunched like snow, and I remembered the texture of slightly wet baking soda - the precursor to making  our baking soda shells in our Hidden Fizzing Ocean World (and also our Fizzing Treasure Rocks in Day 2 of our Leprechaun Treasure Hunt).

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So I took two boxes of baking soda and added just enough water that it looked like crumbly snow (I mixed by hand).  Then I added some glitter (of course) and popped it in the freezer.  S loved how cold it was, but it was pretty darn frozen.  We decided to add some water with our squeezy condiment bottlesto see if we could melt some of the "snow".

Adding the water started the melting process and you could break off little tiny melty snowballs.  It was then deemed ready for some dinosaurs!  Now these particular dinosaurs lead pretty adventurous lives.  If you are a regular reader, you'll recall they've been fossilized, caught in sticky mud, and frozen in gelatin.  Today was their first adventure in snow, though.  :)

Since the snow was made of baking soda, S wanted to try adding some vinegar (I know some of my readers have children who don't like the smell of vinegar - this play works perfectly well with water!  Vinegar is totally optional.)   We had fun watching the brief glittery burst of bubbles as the vinegar and baking soda reacted.

Then it was back to playing.  The vinegar/water made glittery lakes on either side of a frozen path.  The dinosaurs were taking many trips back and forth along the frozen path and sometimes falling into a lake on either side and needing S's assistance (apparently dinosaurs are not good swimmers)!

As the baking soda snow melted, it was so soft.  I was surprised to see how long the whole mixture stayed cold.  It was really quite cold even at two hours out (S REALLY liked this world and kept playing and playing and...you get the idea)!

The slurry that the melted baking soda made was reminiscent of cornstarch and water.  It was nice and goopy and drippy, which is extra fun for dramatic play.

As it melted, the frozen crumbles turned into more of a snowy sludge (it was still SO COLD!) and S could make patterns with her fingers and the dinosaurs could leave footprints (they quickly disappeared, but it was pretty cool).

So much fun - and baking soda is only 59 cents a box at the Dollar Tree!  What's not to love?  :)

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Rainbow Foam Dough

Like many sensory materials, this one has several names.  I've seen it all over, but from what I can tell it started with a mention by the Ooey Gooey Lady on Facebook and has been done by several bloggers at this point.  I always see this pin float by me on Pinterest - and now that I've played with the sensory material, I do think Foam Dough is the best name for it.  

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I was expecting it to be pretty fun, but WOW IS IT FUN.  You really ought to try it.  Because you will LOVE it.  We had one of S's grandmas staying with us this weekend and she and I just could not stop playing with this dough.  It's a safe bet that an activity is a total win if any adults around are just as engrossed with playing as the kid(s).   Now that I've hopefully convinced you to try it, I will warn you that it is messy.  Like really messy.  Maybe the messiest thing I've played with?  It cleaned up just fine for us, but I am thinking most people would rather play with this in a big bowl/tub/bin outside.  :)

Foam Dough has two ingredients in a roughly one to one ratio - cornstarch and shaving cream   I wanted to make rainbow Foam Dough, because, well - rainbows!!!!  So I started by coloring the shaving cream because I figured that would be easiest - I added liquid watercolors, but you could also use food coloring (this, coincidentally, is how we make Shaving Cream Paint).

Then I slowly added cornstarch to each cup and stirred until it started looking ever so slightly doughy.  We kept our dough on the wet side because it was so much fluffier.  The more cornstarch you add, the drier the dough, but it does lose some of that amazing foamy-puffy texture.  Ultimately I'd say our foam dough ended up being slightly more shaving cream than cornstarch.

 

It really is just so foamy and puffy and fluffy and AMAZING.  It's like touching a cloud or a marshmallow...or maybe a marshmallow cloud?  Anyway, the pictures simply do not do it justice.

You can roll it into pretty little balls.  S had her grandma and me on ball rolling duty - and then she would SMOOSH them.  :)

Smooooosh.

It really was such a blast and so unlike any other material we've played with.  Shaving cream is definitely not save to ingest, so poor little X had to sit this one out.  Maybe next year!

We sincerely hope you'll give this one a try - it is something you must experience!!!!

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

10+ Ways to use Fingerpaints

Disclosure:  This is part of a series reviewing art supplies, specifically those from Discount School Supply, our favorite art supply company.  Some of the products reviewed are our own; some of the products reviewed were provided free of charge from Discount School Supply.  I will note which were provided for review within the series.  Though I was offered some of these products for free, the opinions offered are my own and were not swayed by the free products.  This post also includes some affiliate links to Amazon for your convenience.

Other posts in this series include:

Golden Glitter Slime (and Dragons)

Painting the Bathroom Mirror

Pretend Baking:  Painting a 3D Cake

Baby/Toddler Colored Rice Art

10+ Ways to Use Fingerpaint

Make Your Own Puffy Paint Shirt
Starter Art Kit from Discount School Supply

We love painting around here and fingerpainting is just always a hit.  Once your toddler is old enough to not "taste" paint, I love using store-bought paints (if they are still "tasting" - I'd recommend using either of our recipes for edible fingerpaint - we have one here and one here).  I have yet to find/create a homemade recipe that rivals the lasting power and vibrancy of store-bought paint.

When Discount School Supply sent us a set of their amazing Colorations Confetti Paint, S and I were instantly in love.  Glitter AND fingerpaints?  All at once?  Awesome.  We have come to associate Discount School Supply's Colorations line of paint with amazingly bright and vibrant colors and these fingerpaints did not disappoint (they also make a glitter-free version of fingerpaints for those of you who are glitter averse).  

Here are ten ways to use fingerpaints with a few links to friends at the end for even more ideas to enjoy this wonderful type of paint.

1.  Scraper Painting

Discount School Supply sent us one of their BioColor Paint Scrapers and S and I were excited to give it a try with our fingerpaints.  I'd seen scrape painting done before with amazing results, so I had high expectations.  It did not disappoint!  S chose three colors of paint and selected where she wanted big globs of each to go and then set to work painting the page with big sweeping motions.  For this piece of artwork we used the extra large size Colorations Colored Paper we received (in white).  It held up really well to all that heavy paint and it was nice to have a "canvas" that was a bit bigger than average sized paper.

 Check out S's expression here - she was impressed, too!  Hahaha.

Using the scraper was a fun way to mix the colors together and it was just such a different way to paint - we really had a great time with it!

2.  Blotto Art

I actually had to Google what this type of painting is officially called!  I've got so many fond memories of doing it myself, and it's still fun to this day.  To make Blotto art, you take a sheet of paper and fold it in half.  We used some high quality watercolor paperthat we adore.  You then add big dollops of paint in various places.  S put them all in a straight up and down line this time.  Then you fold and squish and squeeze the paint as much as you can.  When you are ready, slowly open the folded paper and a beautiful mirror image will reveal itself.  We thought this one looked like a butterfly and I thought the patterning in the fingerpaints was so cool - like tree roots!

3.  Foam Roller Painting

We received a set of foam rollers from Discount School Supply and it was S's first time painting with rollers.  It seemed like the sort of thing that necessitated a large piece of paper and some room to walk, so I set S up with a large stretch of butcher paper and pulled the chairs back from our dining room table to allow her to move freely.  She set to work creating a map!  The tracks the rollers left were "roads" and she had a running narrative for the map of the town she was creating.

The finished piece of artwork had a few pieces of construction paper added to it (various buildings in the town) and some glitter.  Because you can never have too much glitter (as evidenced by our Golden Glitter Slime, amiright?).

4.  Tape Resist

To do tape resist, you need a good sheet of paper (we use high quality watercolor paper) and low quality masking tape (we use Dollar Tree masking tape).  The stronger your paper and the weaker your tape, the better!  I had S lay out strips of tape and once she was done I continued them to the edges of the paper by adding more tape (you could leave it as is, of course, but I love the stained glass effect that is created with complete lines).  Paint to your heart's desire, and then remove the tape to reveal your masterpiece!

5.  Squish Bags

If you have a little one around (or even if you don't these are still cool - but they do have a special appeal to babies and toddlers), you can add some fingerpaint to a Ziploc bag and tape it in the window to have a really interesting way to make some art.  X was fascinated by the purple sparkly paint and enjoyed making tracks in it with his little chubby fingers over and over again.

We loved the way the window lit up the paint and really accented the glitter in the paint.

6.  Fingerpaint Matching Activity

You could do color coded shapes (i.e. red-outlined triangle, green-outlined circle, etc) if you have a toddler and regular fingerpaints.  S is a bit older, so I thought I'd give her a bit of a challenge by drawing the shapes of the glitter that's within each Colorations Confetti Paint (each color contains a different shape of glitter) and see if she could figure out how to match the paints with the shapes.  It took her a minute, but once she discovered the connection she was super excited.

An activity like this is a great way to reinforce shapes with younger children, and great fine motor practice to paint within the lines.

7.  Body Painting

This is an old picture of little S when she was around 18 months old - but body painting with fingerpaints is SO much fun.  :)

8.  Erupting Fingerpaints

If you have some leftover fingerpaints, add some baking soda (about a tablespoon will usually suffice), stir, and then add vinegar for a beautiful glittery fizzy reaction.  S erupted several colors of leftover paints and then "painted"and played with the bubbly foam with some of her plastic miniature animals.

9.  Paint with Textured Brushes

S and I really enjoyed this set of Colorations Wacky Painting Tools that Discount School Supply sent us.  S enjoyed feeling each brush on her arm and cheek before starting to paint.  We did a free paint on a large bit of butcher paper where she just explored the patterns that each brush made when you moved it in different ways (swirling, straight line, hard, soft, etc).

Then I had her turn away and used a sheet of construction paper to make patterns with each of the brushes.  Then S had to match the brush to the imprint like a puzzle!  A few of the patterns really tricked her, but she loved it!!!

10.  Mess Free Fingerpainting

This is a great way to mix it up, or if you have a baby/mouthing toddler OR a child who does not enjoy messy hands - you can put a piece of paper with paint inside a Ziploc and they can paint through the bag while keeping their hands clean.  This was how X got to "paint" with us.

OK, so his painting mostly looked a lot like drumming because he still doesn't really "get" painting...but it was nonetheless adorable and he enjoyed participating with sis.  :)

Still looking for more ways to use that fingerpaint?

One of my all time favorite fingerpainting methods - a la Linoleum floor.  Click here to see Dilly Dali Art's beautiful kitchen floor masterpiece!

Or you could always use the windows to paint Kandinsky Circles!

You could try out any or all of the fun and clever ways Twodaloo and her twin toddlers have used fingerpaints.

Or you could incorporate sponges in an interesting way like Blog me Mom did here.

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Painting the Bathroom Mirror

Other posts in this series include:

Golden Glitter Slime (and Dragons)

Pretend Baking:  Painting a 3D Cake

Baby/Toddler Colored Rice Art

10+ Ways to Use Fingerpaint

Make Your Own Puffy Paint Shirt
Starter Art Kit from Discount School Supply

When I first saw Growing a Jeweled Rose's post Paint the Sky, I thought mirror painting would be fun to try someday.  Then my friend Stephanie at Twodaloo recently posted her beautiful photos of the giant mirror her twins painted in her Fingerpaint and Mirrors post and we just had to try it, too!  But where to find a mirror?  We didn't have one and I didn't want to buy one just to paint it and have to deal with the hassle of storing it somewhere.  Then it dawned on me - our bathroom has a giant mirror!  I picked a time where I could devote my entire attention to watching S and staying within arms reach of her - and we painted our bathroom mirror!  

Please use close (within arms reach) adult supervision for a child of any age during this activity!

S was SO delighted to be able to hop up on the counter and paint away.  I think at first she thought I might be a little crazy - but then she really got into it.  

To ensure that our bathroom tile countertop stayed paint-free, I used a bed sheet and applied a strip of packing tape between the bottom of the mirror and the sheet to make a paint-proof barrier.  We used our newest favorite paints, Discount School Supply's Simply Washable Tempera (we bought these ourselves) because they are just as beautiful as they are washable.  We didn't have enough in the budget to buy all the colors, so we'd picked just three - magenta, apple green, and turquoise - and I put them in our Dollar Tree muffin tin and gave S a large handled paintbrushto set to work. True to our previous experiences with Discount School Supply's Colorations brand paints - these were the most beautiful, vibrant, and washable paints!  Please keep in mind that S is OBSESSED with mixing paints, so the odd colors you see as time progresses are her own creations made by mixing the bright and cheerful original pink, green, and blue together.  :)

At first, she was just interested in painting over her face and peeking around the paint.  But then she started telling and painting a story!  It was stormy out, and there was a giant purple storm cloud.  Then it started to rain!

Here she is caught in the rain!  Eek!  She's getting wet!  She painted a house for herself to the left there and she'd periodically duck in to dry off, then pop back out in the rain like a true Seattleite.

Then the story took a bit of a strange turn (as a 3.5 year old's stories so often do) and a jellyfish appeared.  In the sky, apparently.

The jellyfish was mean and looking for fish to sting!

Aw, look at that cute happy little fish!  Who would want to sting such a happy guy?

And after the jellyfish and the fish worked out their problems, S went back to telling stories about getting rained on and taking shelter in her house again.  :)

When S was done, we each took a damp paper towel and wiped down the mirror.  After that, I took one final damp paper towel and one Windex wipeand the mirror was as good as new.  We popped the sheet in the wash, bringing the total amount of time for cleaning up to about 3 minutes.  Surprisingly quick and easy!

Have you read about our other unusual painting adventure?

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.