Moon Sand Discovery

We've been wanting to make Moon Sand for a while and we finally did.  Making Moon Sand is a great way to rediscover your play sand.

To create Moon Sand you'll need:

6 cups of Play Sand

3 cups of cornstarch (or corn flour)

1 1/2 cups of cold water

We mixed all the ingredients in a big plastic tub.  We added a little more water and each day it was played with it more water was added.  It was fun to make.

It was fun to add plastic creatures and rocks to the Moon Sand.  It had a nice texture that my daughter enjoyed.  A great new sensory experience.

Moon sand formed into little rock shapes very easily.  I think it is called "Moon Sand" because of this quality.  We will need to get some toy aliens, astronauts, and space ships to add to the fun.

It is always enjoyable to make something new with things you already have on hand.  Moon Sand is definitely one of those experiences.  Hope you have fun making Moon Sand!

Soap Bubbles and Colored Ice Play

My daughter loves ice....eating ice, making ice, and playing with ice.  We have had a really hot summer here and any ice project has been well received.  So we continue to play with ice every now and then. We've done a few Ice Play Ideas  the past couple years and you can check them all out here. We've also done a couple soap bubble projects that you can check out here and here. We decided to combine two loves: Ice and Bubbles for some fantastic play. Keep reading to find out more.

To create the colored ice we filled an ice cube tray with water and added food color to each section. Then we froze the water to make the ice. My daughter played with the colored ice for a little bit in a huge rectangular tub, but then decided to add water and then soap bubbles.

She had fun fishing the ice out of the soapy water. A great sensory experience: Cold Colored ice and fun bubbly soap! My daughter always enjoys playing in the sink with the kitchen soap and bathroom soap so it was the perfect combination for her.

I had fun creating an ice circle. Mom always has to involve art into every project. (Big Surprise!)

My daughter had a blast with just the bubbles and observing their formations in her hands.

Then the ice began to melt and make some beautiful colored water on the pavement.

My daughter continued to play with the soapy green water that the melted ice created in the plastic tub. It is amazing what can occupy a child.

What simple things occupy your children?

Making Colorful Clean Mud

Have you ever played with Clean Mud? I've always wanted to make Clean Mud (can't believe I didn't do this until now!) and finally did with the neighborhood kids and my daughter. They all loved it.  It was such a fun process and great sensory experience.  It also contains simple materials I think you'll have right at home: Ivory Soap + Toilet Paper + Water.  I got the recipe here at earthkids.com.  Keep reading to find out the details of this super cool sensory play experience.

To create Clean Mud you'll need:

3 Bars of Ivory Soap 

1 to 2 rolls of toilet paper

Hot water (not  scalding)

Liquid Watercolors or Food Colors

large bowl or container

To make the Clean Mud, first you grate the Ivory Soap. They all wanted to help with this step. Then you can start tearing up the toilet paper.

We were kind of grating and putting the toilet paper in at the same time to keep everyone busy.  After adding the toilet paper and grated Ivory soap, we added the water little by little.  The instructions said it should feel like Whipped Topping. I thought it was much squishier and thicker than that.

 Next, start combining it all together.  Here is my daughter and her friend squishing it all together. They just loved this part.

They kept squishing it back and forth.  Lot of smiles and giggling!

Back and forth. So fun!

The cool thing about Clean Mud is that it is very moldable too.  Here is a "Clean Mud Mountain"!

Also, it is quite fun to poke with fingertips.  We didn't even add any tools or containers....they had so much fun just playing without other materials

 

They all suggested mixing color into it and I thought that was brilliant idea! I put liquid watercolor (you could use food color)  and Clean Mud in individual plastic bags so they could all mix their own color. This reminded me of our Paint Mixing In Bags.  Since the Clean Mud was in bags they could take it home to show their parents.....yay!

With the rest of the Clean Mud we added a bunch of colors.

This is my Heart Creation that I made. It kind of gave a rainbow effect! I liked molding the Mud into things because I always want to make everything into a sculpture.  Either way it was a successful sensory play experience and I sure hope you give it a try. Let me know if you try it.

More Clean Mud Inspiration:

Sparkle Soap Mud from The Imagination Tree

Clean Mud via the Microwave from Child Central Station

Clean Mud Experience for Young Children from
Let The Children Play

Clean Mud Sculptures from Craftberry Bush

Clean Mud is a fun (and messy) art project from
The Artful Parent