Busy Hands: Melting Goo

Whether you call it goo or slime or oobleck, this mixture of cornstarch and water is great for sensory play for children of all ages. It's a bit surprising that we hadn't tried it until recently, maybe because Little Dude seems more interested in just playing with water. His first experience with goo went pretty well, and we even 'discovered' the right consistency to make the goo 'melt' in our hands.

Since it was my first time, I made a small quantity of the goo, and used two colours. I thought it would be fun for Little Dude to mix them up and that really made it more appealing to him. He started off by using a spoon to play with it, but soon enough he was able to pick it up and shape it with his hands. What really caught his attention was when the goo started 'melting' when he held it in his hand, and then he wanted to do it again and again!

Here's how you can make melting goo:

Mix 3 cups of cornstarch with about half a cup of water. Keep adding a little at a time until all the cornstarch is mixed in and is of a very thick consistency. See the picture below:

You can separate it now into containers and add food colouring of your choice. Put it in a tray and let your child play! This goo can be picked up by hand, rolled into a ball and then you can see how it melts and then starts dripping through fingers.

If it gets too powdery after a while, just add a teaspoon or two of water to make it goo-ey again. You can actually leave this around and re-hydrate it for playing later! It's also easy to clean up because the goo does not stick and only leaves powder when it's dry.

Busy Hands is a series about activities and craft you can do 
with toddlers and young children.