Welcome to the first ever Mess Around blog post! This month we’re going to show you just some of the fun activities you can have with cornflour. Yes – cornflour! Who knew that a store cupboard staple could be used for fun activities with the kids?
Let’s begin with gloop…
Gloop, glorious gloop!
Sounds super messy and gooey right? It is – and it’s marvelous fun too! We have gloop in our Messy Play sessions, and the kids have great fun rolling around and playing in the gloop as they enjoy the feel of it on their skin. Just look at the smiles of delight on this little one’s face 😊
And it’s not just for tiny tots either – the older kiddies love Cornflour too:
Who doesn’t enjoy getting messy? So grab the cornflour and let’s make some gloop – let’s have some messy gloopy fun!
What you will need
To help contain the mess a little the first thing you need is a large container or bowl. A washing up bowl would be perfect, or if you have an empty plastic sandpit or paddling pool, that will make for even more messy fun for your little one to play in.
All you need then is a packet of cornflour and some water – that’s it! It really is that simple. You could add a drop of food colouring too if you’d like to give your gloop a splash of colour.
Top tip: You might want to put down a towel or sheet beneath the bowl to catch the splashes before you start mixing!
When you’re ready, all you need to do is mix the cornflour and water into a gloopy paste. Start by combining 2 cups of cornflour with 1 cup of water (with a few drops of food colouring if you’re using it). Simply increase the ingredients if you want to make more gloop.
Just use your fingers to mix it up– let your little one help you mix it – they will love getting messy and feeling the mixture in their hands. Talk to them about how the gloopy mixture feels. If they squeeze it tightly, it will start to go solid in their hands, then when they stop squeezing it will turn into a gooey liquid with stringy threads in it. Dig your hands in too and join in the messy gloopy fun!
Lots of messy, gooey, gloopy fun to be had by everyone!
Time to play
Once the gloop is mixed up the fun can continue. Give your little one some washable toys such as penguins, rubber ducks, dinosaurs, plastic spoons and jugs or other suitable play items and let their imagination run wild.
This little one’s having fun playing in gloop with penguins and plastic shapes:
There’s no end to the fun that can be had – gloop will keep your littlun entertained for hours!
And that’s just ONE of the fun activities you can enjoy with cornflour.
Let’s explore another…
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Yes really! No need to wait for it to snow outside! You can use cornflour to make another one of our Messy Play favourites – snow cloud dough. It’s fun to make and can be used to create a snowy play scene for your little one to enjoy. Their very own winter wonderland to play with while in the comfort and warmth of home 😊
Who doesn’t love playing in the snow? Well, now you can – whatever the weather. So grab the cornflour and let’s make some snow cloud dough – let’s have some snowy doughy fun!
What you will need
All you need to make your snow cloud dough is cornflour and vegetable oil – just 2 things – easy-peasy right? Oh – and a mixing bowl!
Just pop 4 cups of cornflour and 1 cup of vegetable oil in the bowl and let your little one mix and knead the mixture with their fingers to create a crumbly-textured dough. Get them to squeeze the mixture together in their small hands and see how it holds its shape. Then get them to make it all crumbly again using their fingertips.
This is a great sensory play activity for them to enjoy.
If your child has reached the age where they no longer put everything in their mouth, you could add some white or silver glitter to make your snow cloud dough super sparkly!
Who doesn’t love a bit of sparkle?
Time to play
Once the snow cloud dough is ready, encourage your little one to use their imagination and create their very own wintry play scene. Give them some washable toys to play with in the snow such as small animals or vehicles and watch them enjoy their snowy adventure. The possibilities are endless!
Here’s another idea for you…
How about making some squishy mouldable snow dough instead of crumbly dough? All you need to do is swap the ingredients for 1 cup of conditioner and 2 cups of cornflour. Not only will the snow dough smell gorgeous but it will keep your little one happily entertained for hours!
Lots of squishy messy fun can be had building snowmen 😊
Or you could make the soft dough in various colours by adding just a few drop of food colouring to the mixture.
Top tip: When your littlun has finished playing, store your snow dough in an air-tight container ready for another day. It will last for months.
If you and your little one enjoyed the activities in this blog post, you’d love our Mess Box! A subscription-based activity box for hours of family fun delivered straight to your door. Click here to find out more.
Or why not come along to one of our Messy Play Sessions? All you need to do is come along and mess around and leave the cleaning up to us! What’s not to love? Click here to search for a messy play session near you.
We look forward to sharing more of our favourite messy play activities with you on the Mess Around blog next month 😊
