As a stay at home mom I am always trying to find fun and exciting family friendly activities that I can do with my children. I especially on the lookout for toddler activities that are appropriate for my 2 ½ year-old son. I have found that the best projects for us are projects that are geared towards chilren 3 and under and work on developing motor skills.
Developmental motor skills can be either large motor skills or fine motor skills. Large motor skills work on coordinating large muscle groups. For example, things like running, jumping, and balance work on these skills. Fine motor skills work on coordinating small muscle groups. For example, cutting, writing, and manipulating object using ones hands work on these skills. Making and playing with goop is a great way to develop fine motor skills. Small muscle coordination is needed to mix the ingredients and manipulate the goop.
Now that the weather is changing it is imperative for me to find fun family friendly activities for us to do indoors so that we do not get cabin fever. We love to play pretend and hide-and-go seek, they tend to be our go-to activities. In order to change things up a little bit I have been on the lookout for arts and crafts that are fun, engaging, and hands on!
Viola, Goop!
Goop is messy! This is a forewarning; goop is incredibly messy, but it is also incredibly fun. We did this activity in our pajamas on a rainy day and had to have bath time imediately after. The fun we had creating and playing with this goop more than made up for the mess we had to clean up afterwards.
How to make Goop:
Equal parts cornstarch and water
· 1 cup cornstarch
· 1 cup water
· Food coloring (I used a variety of colors at different times to change the color of the goop)
· Bowl for mixing
Mix the corstarch and the water together in a bowl until smooth. Add food coloring as desired.
I have found that although the recipe calls for equal parts you can change up the consistancy of the goop by adding more cornstarch and more water until you have reached the desired texture. One of our favorite things to do with goop is scoop it up and roll it into a ball, then watch as it melts in your hands. You can keep the goop in the bowl to avoid a large mess or you can pour the goop on the table for easier access.
This is definetly going to be a go-to activity for us on rainy days. We played with our goop all morning and couldn’t wait to have at it again after nap time. Clean up is incredibly quick and easy; just a little soap and water does the trick.
I hope you enjoy this activity as much as we did!
Written by: Laura Andry
