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11 February 2008

Water + Cornstarch = Strange Glop

When we did the "dancing raisins" thing a while back my Mom commented that it Looked like Monkey wanted to do something more hands-on. I thought we could do that, and we're actually getting together with some friends later thins week (hopefully) to do the cornstarch glop. Neither of us Moms has ever done this before, and I'm bringing the cornstarch, so I thought I'd try it at home to make sure I had enough because I had no idea how much we'd need; neither book suggesting this activity said anything about how much cornstarch you should have.


First I gave the Monkey a cup, and an implement to stir with.




Then we added some water and a bit of cornstarch and stirred. It looked odd. After we stirred, it looked like milk. Must need more cornstarch.



So we added some more until it started to goop up. This stuff is ODD.




He poked it with a fork quite happily for a while, then I thought it was time to get right in there and play with it. So I took the fork. I was also continuing to play with the water content of the stuff. A little juicier seemed to be good. Oh, and I started playing with the food coloring.



If I'd just stopped with the red and yellow food coloring, it probably would have been prettier. But I kept adding more colors. A drop of red. A couple of drops of yellow. And then, finally, a drop of blue.



It wasn't too bad at first; the colors started out kinda pretty. But as we kept playing with the stuff, it became apparent that I should have used fewer colors. However, we had a gooey sloppy blast.






Surprisingly, the cleanup wasn't that bad.

5 comments:

Keeley said...

Man, you are one AMAZING Mom. What fun for your little monkey. =)

Ritsumei said...

Are you kidding? This stuff is FUN! I don't remember doing any of this stuff, and I was right in there playing with him. That stuff is weird. Seriously. And it's completely fascinating. My Mom says that it keeps in the fridge too, for a couple of weeks before it gets yucky, so I expect that we'll use it again. But I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff. It's terribly fun. Make some some afternoon, and then ask Ben if it's a liquid or a solid. I almost guarantee that he won't be able to tell you. Andy and I had a big ole' conversation about it and never decided. It looks like a liquid in the pictures, but it tears and breaks like a solid. But when you put the pieces on top of each other they "melt" back into each other in a very liquid fashion, and it was slowly flowing into the low cup section of the high chair's tray. My Monkey played with it for 1/2 hour, 45 minutes. I'll bet your bigger kids would have a blast and you could do some chemistry ideas with them at the same time. And make enough for you: this stuff is fascinating!

Shari said...

I did this a long time ago with my older kids. Glad you reminded me about it. I've got to do it with the younger ones, too. It will be neat to add food coloring, this time.

Keeley said...

Funnily enough, my idea of fun is...I don't know...going for a walk or the satisfaction of filling out a workbook of math problems or figuring out a particularly knotty problem or finally understanding a particular concept. I joke not. My poor poor poor children. =D

Ben and I made some of this stuff last year - it WAS fun. The stuff is just bizarre. =)

But the mess! The mess! I'm not very good with messes. I even get bummed out if I get flour everywhere when I make bread. How nutty is that?

I've always admired people who can get down and dirty and imaginative with children. I prefer snuggling with them and reading a book. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, I suppose, but I do feel like a bad Mom because I have an inability to get on the floor and play cars with my son for longer than five minutes without falling asleep or dying of intense boredom....*sigh* =(

Ritsumei said...

I'm with you at least part of the way, Keeley! My husband is much better at playing with the Monkey and his toys. He got a little pine workbench that he likes to sit on a lap, pull up to his lap, and then go to town on. That's one of those things that my eyes start crossing pretty quick after I've been there for 2 or 3 minutes. I need a good book to keep me going while he uses my lap. But Andy can sit there for the longest time, showing him how to use the tools and helping him get the funny little screws in and out of the bench. I don't mind for a bit, but Andy's definitely better at it. I think the goop was so much fun because I hadn't done it before and I was as intrigued as he was.

In any case, quit picking on yourself. Not liking to do one sort of activity certainly doesn't make you a "bad Mom!" If your blog is at all representative of what goes on in your home then I'd say you're a pretty good Mom! The Lord had enough confidence in you to send you those kids you write about, and you seem pretty good at teaching them the Gospel, which trumps making gook any day of the week! Didn't you say that your son is learning the scripture masteries? I remember thinking that he's not even seminary age yet!

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