easy puff paint for "snow" paintings

I was organizing my pantry yesterday (I do hope you live a more exciting life than me), when I came across some self-rising flour that expired when my eldest was still in diapers. Instead of tossing it, I set it aside for this puff paint recipe I found recently on Frugal Family Fun.

Mix equal parts salt and self-rising flour, adding enough water to make a pancake-batter consistency. Pour into a squeeze bottle. (We started with one of those 3 oz. travel bottles, but I ended up switching to an old rinse-aid bottle which worked much better.) I drew a simple snowman shape on blue construction paper and then asked A to trace the lines and fill in.

When you're done with your design, microwave the picture for around 30 seconds on high.

The "paint" puffs beautifully. A giggled her head off watching it puff up in the microwave. After it cools for a few seconds, it's ready to color. I was surprised at how well marker works on it. (And yes, she's aware her snowman has three eyes. She thinks it's hilarious.)

I tried to get A to draw snowflakes by intersecting three lines, but it was developmentally beyond her. So I handed over the bottle and let her experiment with the last of the paint. Again, she thought it was the neatest thing to microwave her art and make it puffy.

Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner

Have you read the latest in the "snowmen" books? This time a boy imagines what it would be like if his snowman could play with him all year round. I'm a huge fan of the previous snowmen books, and can't wait to get my hands on this most recent addition. (But with only one copy in our library system, I'm just going to have to!)