It’s easy and a ton of fun! Be ready for a mess and pure entertainment for your children. All you need is cornstarch and water…I don’t even measure; I just let the children create their own mixtures! Have your children pour the cornstarch into a bowl, and then pour water into the cornstarch. They can mix it with their hands or a spatula, and even add a few drops of food coloring for extra fun!
Why is it important to play with Goo?
Playing with goo is a great “Sensory Play” activity. Sensory Play helps children understand all five of their senses: touch, smell, taste, see, and hear. When several senses are stimulated during play, children get more opportunities to explore, discover, and develop their own creativity at their individual pace.
Check out the benefits that can come from playing with goo:
Language– Sensory play allows children to use descriptive expressive language, and helps them find a sense of meaning behind a word. Take for instance the word “gooey.” If a child never felt goo, how would he be able to describe it? Playing with goo allows kids to experience the texture and the sense of goo. And once they experience it, then they can describe it with words and their own thoughts. This will build a child’s vocabulary and increase her understanding of new words!
Cognitive- Sensory play helps children to learn problem solving by measuring, mixing, and cleaning up. 🙂 Being able to dig, dump, pour, and create helps strengthen problem-solving skills.
Social and Emotional- Skills are developed by children having control of their actions and experiences, providing them with confidence that they can create and design…all while having FUN!
Fine Motor- Fine Motor skills are developed while children are squeezing, pinching, picking up, and moving the goo back and forth. This activity will not only strengthen their small muscles, but it will help develop their pencil grip, which sets them up for greater success when manipulating a pencil.
If you just can’t stand the mess, then you can set up this activity outside…either on the grass or an outdoor table. Or in the winter, you avoid the mess by putting the goo…goop…slime into a baggie and the kids will still enjoy the fun by moving it all around inside the bag. I believe that the mess is important, and it helps develop many skills. However, mixing and playing with the goo in the baggie is a cleaner alternative.
Scriptures to teach while your children are creating their mixtures…
John 1:3 “God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.”
Isaiah 45:12 “I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.”
