Sponge Painting

Part of getting prepped for Cindy's upcoming "preschool" is loading up on tons and tons of fun activities.  She loves to paint and color and I mean loves.  She asks me every day if she can paint.   And if you are wondering why she has all that paint on her chest it is because she kept signing more paint please. 

Sign language and finger painting doesn't mix.  When she says colors, she ends up getting a mouth full of paint.  Needless to say, painting usually ends up with lots of clean up.

 Anywhoo, I just ordered some alphabet sponges and thought I could probably make my own shape sponges.  I bought some cheap dollar sponges....

And ended up with a pile of fun sponge painting tools.  The "flower" sponges  [at least that is what Cindy calls it] aren't that great for painting, but make a great bath toy.

I printed and cut paper stencils out and traced them over the sponges.  I tried to free hand the start one and well you can see how badly that turned out. 

To make the flower bombs you cut a ton of strips the short way.  I didn't have have any plastic ties so I just took a needle and thread and threaded through the middle of each one,

Then, I pinched it together and wrapped it around the middle really tight.  Fluff a bit and TADA a flower bomb.  These weren't actually intended for painting but as little water bombs for water fights.  

I have to admit, we both had a lot of fun with this one.  The first time we tried it she wasn't all that interested in using the sponges but the second time she showed more interest.  I am sure she will use them more when she is older. 

In the end, it was worth all this mess.  And did I mention, I used freezer paper to paint on.  I seriously love that stuff!