Making Messy Goo

Our favourite thing for some messy, sensory play is to make some messy goo!  Using cornflour, water and food colouring, this goo takes advantage of the strange properties of the mixture.  It isn't a liquid.  It isn't a solid.  The more you mix it, and handle it the stiffer it gets.  Let it run slowly through your fingers and it liquefies.  It is fascinating stuff and an ideal play idea if you want to get messy but are short on time and space.

To make it, simply take a cup of cornflour and add warm water slowly to reach the desired consistency.  Not too much though!  Add a couple of drops of natural food colour and you are ready to play.  It is really quick and easy to set up so little ones can be having fun fast!

• You can roll it into a ball in your hands.
• Let it drip through your fingers.
• Break it into pieces quickly.
• Hit it.
• Drop it from a spoon.
• Squeeze it slowly.
• Stir it fast or slow.
• Cut through it.

The mixture responds differently to quick and slow actions which gives so much scope to explore the properties  Kizzy was interested in the science behind what was happening.  She would lift up a lump of it as a solid and watch in amazement at it dripped through her hands.  I explained about it being a suspension of solid particles within a liquid.  Impact traps the water molecules inside the long starch chains forming a temporary semi-rigid structure.  It is a non-Newtonian liquid where force alters its viscosity.  It doesn't follow the usual rules!

Freddy was fascinated by the mixture, but also slightly afraid of it!!  He was a bit freaked out by how it would solidify on his hands.  He kept washing it off in the sink and enjoyed seeing it turn the water blue because of the food colouring.  He must have got messy and then washed it off twenty times making his own entertainment!!

The bits that fell on the floor could be vacuumed up easily as solids and the surfaces were easily wiped down with a damp sponge. Adding extra water to the bowl turned it into a free flowing liquid which could then be poured away. So tidying up afterwards was really easy.  It is an easily containable, small scale activity that still allows little ones to get messy and explore their world through play.

See More Ideas at Edspire

When Messy Play Meets Baking

As this Easter holiday is so very chilly, our activities are tending to take place more indoors that out.  There is  always a danger that this can end up in nothing more than TV viewing and video game playing, so I am determined to give Freddy some more structured activities to avoid an over-dependence on technology!

Today, Freddy had a fabulous time when he was set loose in the kitchen with 16 plain homemade sponge cakes (that we made together), three tubs of icing, sprinkles and some broken-up leftover Easter chocolate.  He had a totally multi-sensory experience as he sniffed, licked, tasted, touched, mixed and spread icing liberally!  He thought about the smells of the strawberry, chocolate and vanilla; the feel of the icing and the sprinkles between his fingers; the texture of the icing as he spread it and touched it; the shapes of the different sprinkles but mostly the flavours as he chomped on the chocolate and the Hundreds and Thousands!  He made a complete mess but loved every moment of his time.  He even enjoyed washing-up afterwards splashing in the warm, bubbly water and using different shaped vessels to pour water from one bowl to another.  There is so much for him to learn through playing and exploring his environment independently.

If you plan on embarking on some similarly messy play, I recommend using a tray to catch all the dropped sprinkles and smears of icing.  It was much easier tidying up afterwards with the mess contained.  The apron kept Freddy clean (ish!)  I often find it hard not to intervene and take control of activities that I do with Freddy and so it was really nice to take a back seat and simply let him do his thing.  I watched, listened and took photos of his antics and let him explore, completely unhindered by any grown-ups with our pre-conceived ideas on what constitutes fun!

What a lovely way to spend a day!

Thanks to Nick Jr for the chef's hat and silicon cupcake cases that they sent us so Freddy could be one of Dora's Little Cooks! Take a look at this recipe from Dora to bake up some delicious treats that are easy for little ones to help with.  You can find lots of other activities to keep the kids entertained this Easter holiday with Nick Jr online.