Goop for Beginners

(28 Months)

Goop = Mess.  Mess = Fun.  Therefore as far as logic goes, Goop = Fun (look, we just did a logic puzzle at 28 months).

I've never played with goop before.  I've seen it on so many wonderful blogs, on Pinterest, I've heard the primary teachers talk excitedly about playing with it in their classrooms, and I've even seen a segment of it on Steve Spangler.  I was so excited to make goop with the kidabunks and Grandpa last week.  Here is a beginner's guide to goop.  It took me about five full minutes to make the goop.  My plan was to assist the kidabunks in making this, but it was a bit harder to combine than I thought.

1. Most important- this stuff will separate over time and will clog your drains.  When you are all finished playing with the goop, scoop it into a recycled bag and toss it into the trash.  
2. Gather your materials, we used:

• one of our sensory bins (a 15 qt Rubbermaid tub with lid)
• two boxes of corn starch
• about four cups of water (to be added slowly to the bin)
• wooden spoons, small spoons, cooking utensils
• tempera paint (optional)
• liquid food dye (optional)
• bucket of clean water and a wash cloth (just in case someone doesn't like that feeling of the goop on his or her hands)
3. Pour the two boxes of corn starch into your empty sensory bin.
4. Add about three cups of water to the bin, combine with your hands (this is messy).
5. Continue adding water as needed, the consistency should be like honey (we needed just under four cups of water).
6. Add some paint to dye the goop (we used pink- as part of our Pinkalicious activities).
7. Swirl the paint, either with hands or the wooden spoons.
8. Add some fun liquid food dye colors to the bin.  Watch in amazement as the goop turns into a beautiful marbled slime.
9. The kidabunks loved watching the goop ooze through Grandpa's fingers (new experiences help build vocabulary), and squeezing it into a ball and then watching it melt away, and slapping and poking the goop hard and fast so that their hands don't sink.  Wild One liked stomping on it and then relaxing his foot so that it was covered in goop.
10. We made a huge mess in our lanai.  Once the goop dries it turns into a powdery substance, I was then able to just vacuum it off the outdoor rug and dispose of it.  
11. Remember, if you pour this down the drain the plumber (and the plumber's family) will thank you.

It's amazing, with all of the pink paint that we added to the goop it still turned green.

The kidabunks liked using squeezing the food dye into the goop.  

Little Miss kept saying, "tiny tiny bottle".  

She was rapt in determined concentration for almost an entire hour playing with this stuff.  

Squeezing it through her fingers, spooning it onto her tiny, tiny spoon, stirring it and swirling it, 

poking it with her fingers, watching her fingers sink into the slimy quicksand, feeling the force of the solution holding her hand down at the bottom of the sensory bin.

Now I know why so many tots and little kids love this stuff!

The next time, we'll add glitter and some water beads.

I'd also like to experiment with adding shaving cream to the goop.