A box of 99-cent cornstarch bought me two very happy girls on Sunday.
If you don’t mind a little mess—and which of us well-balanced & patient mothers ever does? wink wink—then here is what you do:
- Dump half a box of cornstarch into your bowl.
- Add just enough water to make it “gloopy.”
- Add a drop or two of food coloring. Some people might say this is optional but my kids never would.
- Go about your business while your children go to town.
I was making stuffed peppers on the other side of the counter while the girls were playing. I gave them each a little piece of green pepper and quick as a wink they were making strawberry cake with mint leaves. I love to watch the imagination of a child in action, though I’ll admit that I was grateful that they didn’t ask me to try it.
Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
*Updated on Wednesday to add: For some more photos that show the “science” as well as the fun of this activity, visit Barbara at These Things. Thank you for sharing, Barbara!
I think I saw that in our science book- one of the many things on the to do list…mine would love it!
Does the food coloring stain their hands?
The food coloring does stain their hands, Heather, but only for a day.
Great idea. This is why I love blogs. I once gave my boys a whole ball of yarn and they made a web in the living room. They even tied up my vacuum cleaner.
Wow, looks like fun!
Ok, note to self:
Add cornstarch to your Wal-Mart list!
How do you clean up? Sink or garbage?
You crazy brave woman. I’m in awe.
Now that looks like fun! 🙂 My boys wouldn’t play because of their sensory issues – but maybe we’ll work towards something like that. It would be considered sensory therapy at an occupational therapist’s office. Parents spend hundreds of dollars a month for therapists to do stuff like this with their kids – I know I’ve paid it. 🙂 Crazy huh? But then, they have a lot of other things in their offices as well – I just always thought it was funny that I paid so much for them to do some things I could do in my own kitchen at home!
🙂
~Jenny
I don’t believe it! I’ve got pictures waiting to download from yesterday when WE played with cornstarch goo!
We used a whole box of cornstarch and 1 1/2 cups of water in a very wide, shallow bowl. No food coloring here–nobody missed it, either. 😉 Even the teens had fun with it.
And Jamie: This is best worked on newspaper and cleaned up by throwing away. Once you see how it goes from solid to liquid to solid to liquid, you’ll not like the idea of pouring it down the drain.
I let my sweet children do this ONE time….once was enough. 🙂 They had great fun and it took me a nice long time to clean the mess.
Thanks Margaret for this visual and written reminder of the fun of having small ones around.
Oh, how I miss that sometimes.
But, as much as I was able, when I was not in the throes of depression, I tried to make memories for my children such as you have.
And always, depression or not, I loved them with a love intense and life-saving, and I mean life-saving for me.
Take care of your little family and treasure every moment.
They will soon be 33 and 32 as mine are.
Love,
Jlo
Oh that looks like fun! You have a delightful blog. As a fellow Catholic homeschooling mom, I’ve visited here several times before. But this is the first time I’ve been brave enough to post. 🙂 I look forward to stopping by regularly.
Jen in TX
You are WAY too brave to do the food coloring thing!
We love making this concoction around here as well, but I do NOT go for the food coloring… the mess from the cornstarch is bad enough!
After my kids run their hands through it, they love to drive matchbox cars through it… or cover dinosaurs… or trap lego people in there (you get the idea), so EVERYTHING is covered with cornstarch.
That said, it is a TON of fun!!!
I posted our goo pictures, if you want to see another messy family having fun!
http://thinkaboutthesethings.blogspot.com/2008/02/let-goo-times-roll.html#links