It’s been a very long winter here in New Hampshire and it’s still going. Yesterday, I posted a link on facebook from Merrimack Valley Moms about indoor activities for kids with cabin fever. My friend Angela commented on the link: “Corn starch and water. All you need.”
This reminded me that I had come across a recipe for finger paints that used corn starch, water, and food coloring. So this morning, I decided to wing it with the corn starch. I mixed up the corn starch and water to consistency of gravy. This didn’t work terribly well. The corn starch kept gooping up at the bottom of the bowl. But I didn’t have time to actually look up the recipe, so I went with what I had. I divided the goop up into 2 bowls and added food coloring: blue and yellow. Milo was fascinated.
This didn’t really work as finger paint, but it did work for bright colored goop that Milo liked playing with. I spread butcher paper on the table and let him go. He had fun dipping sticks and spoons and hands into it and smearing it everywhere. He took my silicone turkey baster and used it as a paint brush. He drank a little of it. He experimented dropping some blue into the yellow and created green. This occupied him for almost a full hour, which is an eternity in toddler time.
I like that I didn’t have to police Milo with the goop. He could make as big a mess as he wanted, waste as much goop as he wanted, play with mixing colors, throw it across the room, etc. It was an opportunity for him to play, which is how babies learn. After it was all done–meaning when the colored goop was emptied out of the bowls onto the table, the floor, and Milo–clean up was easy. The goop dried up into splotches that easily wiped away with water. They looked like those sugared dot candy that you peel off strips of paper. Maybe I stumbled on the recipe for sugared dots?
When I looked up the recipe for finger paints, I had gotten it wrong. You’re supposed to use corn starch and dishwashing liquid or shampoo. I’ll try that recipe some time, but this one was pretty fun too.
Fun! For Milo, and for us to read, too. He still looks clean in these pictures, though. Where are the “after” shots????
He is a beautiful child, Sabina. Y’all’s genes seem to have been a great combination. 🙂
Thanks for following my blog, Kathy! I should have gotten some “after” photos, but I was too busy chasing him around. Milo is a surprisingly happy child, considering his curmudgeonly parents, and I am so grateful. Pray that I never squash his joy.
I like your recipe better. I wouldn’t want Cadence or Julian eating some with soap in it! We might try this tomorrow!