Magic Mud

'Quiet time' with my children is kind of an oxy moron since they're rarely quiet... but it is a time that I enjoy immensely, regardless. It's a time when I stop juggling and sit down to focus on doing something with them, whether it's reading a book, singing a song together, baking, or making a craft. Quiet time usually involves lots of smiles and laughter, hugs and snugs, and, on occasion, some messiness, too.

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Or a lot of messiness, as the case may be...

Have you heard of Magic Mud?  Or Ooblek?  Neither had I until, of course, I stumbled upon it on Pinterest.  I followed the link to Skip to My Lou Blog, and knew we had to try it (click the photo at right to check hers out).

Magic Mud

Materials:
2 cups cornstarch
food coloring
1 cup water
wide craft sticks
cookie sheet

Directions:

In a bowl, add a few drops of food coloring to the water, then mix in the cornstarch until it is all combined.  The mixture will be a little stiff as you push on it, but then seem runny when you're not - and that's the magic of it.  Pour the mixture onto the cookie sheet (or highchair tray) and let the kids go to it.

We chose to do two batches of 1 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup water each so that each of the kids could have their own colors.  Green for Ethan (his favorite!) and blue for Livi (because she doesn't know her colors yet and Ethan said so).

This mixture really has an amazing texture - one that the kids couldn't get enough of... honestly, I don't know who had more fun - the kids, or Mr. Juggling Act!  The three of them must have played with this for nearly an hour - certainly a record for Liv's attention span.


While Ethan was busy pushing the mixture with his craft stick to make roads, Livi was busy cooping and squishing it between her fingers - an awesome sensory activity for the both of them.

Now, it's not all peaches and cream folks - I did mention that it is a messy project (I have the Magic Mud on my wall to prove it, ahem).  Both kids required a bath afterwards (as did Mr. Juggling Act's watch...)


Regardless of the mess, it was so much fun.  So much.  Seriously, you've got to try this - it's a winner in my book and we'll be doing it again soon (when I stock up on cornstarch again!)