Cornflour is one of those activities that has been on the ‘list’ for ages, but we never seem to get round to it! After Annabelle had such a great time with the shaving foam and gel bags, I decided we definitely needed to get the cornflour out! This is a nursery/reception class staple and it never fails to impress.
We took our big plastic tray outside on a warm morning to contain the mess – this would work fine inside with a plastic splash sheet or shower curtain, but we are making the most of summer!! Annabelle chose some colours (I used the liquid food colours as they are easier to mix than the gel) She remembered that yellow and blue will make green from our previous day’s painting and she wanted to try it again with these colours.
I didn’t use exact quantities, we just kept adding a little water and mixing together but at a guess we probably needed:
2 cups of corn flour (I think this is refered to as corn starch in other countries)
1 cup of water
A few drops of food colour
Annabelle wanted to try and mix it up with a spoon – which gave her chance to experience the strange properties of cornflour and water straight away! If you try and mix with a spoon it feels hard and sticky, but when you move your hands through it slowly it is thick but runny and gloopy. It feels as though you could pick up a big solid lump of the mixture, but it turns to a runny liquid as soon as you hold it in your hand. I’m sure there is some fascinating science about the particle structure that we can explore when she is older, but for today – we are just having fun with this funny gloopy mixture!
It won’t stay on my fingers!
Trying to cover all the bumps on the tray
We did make a fair bit of mess on the outside table and our clothes, but it washed straight off!
We love messy!
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