Super Easy Sensory Play: Cornstarch and Water

Infant+

I am writing a short series of posts entitled "Super Easy Sensory Play".  Activities included in the series all contain two or fewer ingredients and are items that are generally found in any house, so no need to run to the store for specialty items.  They are also appropriate for all ages.  I hope that you will give them all a try!  You can read the other posts in the series here:

Super Easy Sensory Play:  Soap Foam
Super Easy Sensory Play:  Ice and Warm Water

Super Easy Sensory Play:  Cloud Dough

Super Easy Sensory Play: Rice

Super Easy Sensory Play: Water

Super Easy Sensory Play: Dried Pasta
Super Easy Sensory Play: Dirt and Worms
Super Easy Sensory Play:  Wet Cotton Balls

I know that people have come up with lots of fancy names for cornstarch and water, but I always get them confused, so I'm going to stick to the boring (but descriptive, ha!) cornstarch and water.  First off, let me say, this is MY favorite sensory activity ever.  If you have not (and I mean you, the parent) played with cornstarch and water, you really, really need to.  It is the coolest.  If you hold it tightly, it behaves as a solid, but if you release your grip, it turns into this very sticky-looking liquid that makes crazy dripping ribbons.  Whenever we play with it, I *have* to join in.

This was X's first experience with it and I am happy to report that he takes after me in an intense love for it!  He played with it for almost 30 minutes, which in baby-time is basically forever.  :)

To make this all you need is a box of cornstarch and some tap water.  Cornstarch itself is a really neat texture, so sometimes it's fun to play with just the cornstarch for a bit before you even add the water.  I feel like the best word to describe the texture of plain cornstarch is squeaky.  It's very interesting.

  Once you're ready to move on to the next step, empty the cornstarch into a dish (I find it easier to mix with water in a shallow dish like a baking pan, but really any pan/dish will work) and slowly add water.  Err on the side of too little water.  You want just enough that all the cornstarch is wet.  It should be very thick, as you can see in the pictures below.  You can mix the water in by hand yourself, your child can, or you can stir slowly with a spoon - keep mixing until the water is uniformly distributed.

S is an old pro, so she was super excited to show X how it worked.  When S was around 2, she went through a phase where the texture freaked her out and she wouldn't play with it for several months - but then she returned to loving it again.  Phew.

At first he only stuck his fingertips in.  As always, he's inspecting.  :)

But then he really got into it!  I was surprised that he naturally figured out how to squeeze it in his hands to make it feel solid.  He's got a big handful here.

This is his OHMYGOSHTHISISAWESOMEMAMA face.  :)

S really loves it, too.  It's so fun!!!

I love the dual concentration here.

So you may have noticed that the kids are sitting on a sheet...that's because this gets messy.  Really messy.  It's totally cleanable, but it will get everywhere if your kids are playing with it.  You can totally do this play in an empty bathtub if you'd like it easily contained (and then easily transition into baths!).  Setting out a sheet works really well for us; afterwards I just throw it and the kids' clothes in the washing machine and we're good.  You could just play with it on the splat mat, but it can be a bit obnoxious to clean when it's wet (if you had a place to let it dry out first, you could totally just vacuum it off the splat mat, though).  

I hope you won't let the mess stop you from trying it though, because it really is so much fun and such a unique and interesting texture/sensory play!

Yeah...it's a bit messy.

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.