Strawberry Mush!

Making a variation on silly putty has been on my mental "Things To Try" list for the longest time. We tried once using a recipe that combined white glue and starch, but it was a total fail, and since then i've been on the look out for a different one. This recipe is SO easy to make and all the ingredients are completely safe for even young toddlers to handle, and it makes a wonderful scented play material!

Here's the recipe:

2 cups corn flour (corn starch if you're in the US)
1/2 cup Shampoo (the cheap chemical stuff - NOT the all natural stuff)
4 tbls water
Food colouring
Glitter (optional)

Bean of course helped in the making process (which for her is just as important as playing with the end product), so I measured out the ingredients and she poured, spooned, and stirred...First the shampoo...

...Then the corn flour...

...a few drops of food colouring...

...GLITTER. Because pretty much everything is better with glitter...

...and there we have it! Bean has named it strawberry mush because of its fruity smell and delicious pink colour.

I was really curious to see how this material would act when played with, and I was really happy with the results. It feels basically like the silly putty you can buy from the shops, but slightly firmer and not as sticky. We were both pretty fascinated by the stuff and had fun finding out its properties...

...It's lovely to shmush and holds a print for a minute before expanding back up...

...when its rolled into a ball it gradually melts to flat and is lovely and shiny...

...it can get a bit stuck to surfaces after it has melted onto them, so I might try lightly oiling the table before we play next time...

...and it's very, VERY stretchy!...

Bean got out some of our playdough tools and started poking holes, digging around, and rolling it into sausages to cut with a plastic knife...

..."Would you like some strawberry mush ice cream mummy?"...

...Then she made a batch of mushy birthday cupcakes!...

...YUM!

 

This was a seriously fun sensory material to make and play with, and Bean revisited it numerous times over the next few days. 

A few notes from our experience:

We found that when left out or played with for an extended period it starts to dry out a bit, so when this happens you just need to add another couple tablespoons of water and knead it again to get the smoothness back. It's also necessary to store in an airtight container or zip lock bag when not in use as once it dries out completely it's very hard to get it back to the right consistency. It's also quite messy, leaving residue on surfaces, clothes, hands, bits on floor etc, but cleans up very easily (being soap based it's actually quite fun to wash off because it gets a good lather going!).

We'll definitely be adding this to our list of regular play materials, and really hope you try it to!

Happy Playing!