Corn Starch to Goop to Color Me Rad Powder
Posted: September 25, 2012 | Author: Jena | Filed under: after school cool down, Artsy Fartsy, Experimentation, Outside, playing with our food, sensory, Water Play | 9 Comments »
My Little Friend A was at his first day of school during the official Mini Rainbow Warrior Dash, where when everyone was done with their “heats,” we threw around colored corn starch as warrior powder. We were so excited to use the powder, that all the bags of color were gone before we could save some.
I wanted to make more, so Friend A could have a turn too.
We take our time making more. There is no rush, and lots of fun to be had during the process.
We fill the process table with one very large container of corn starch.
We add water and lots of packets of orange kool aide, making goop and adding some fun toys, like rocks and cars.
The next day, the goop has firmed up making it really fun to scoop. We add spatulas and large serving spoons.
When the goop is dry, we hammer it to turn it into chunks.
I put the chunks into the food processor.
We take the orange powder and use it to throw around, making one happy Friend A.
Love!
I am sure the kids love it, but are you not worried about the children inhaling the cornstarch dust cum orange coloring?
I don’t have a solid answer for this question. Yes, I get concerned about the kids inhaling powdery substances, like flour while baking, cornstarch when we throw it up in the air, but this activity passes for me because of the quality of the experience. We won’t be doing this on a regular basis, for sure. I think like most things, this has to be a call made by parents’ comfort level.
What did you use in the initial powder before making it goop? Corn starch and flour?
…just corn starch and food coloring, shake it up. It was summer time when we did this, so we let it dry in the sun, if you have it this time of year. If you in NE like we are, and there’s very little sun, put it next to your heat source, like a wood stove. It took about a week for it to get dry enough to get a smooth powder in the food processor.
How did you dry the “goop” so you could break it into chunks and turn it back into powder? I’m having no problem getting it into a goop, but getting it back is an issue:/
Love this! We missed the deadline for our city’s Color me rad race… I am resorting to planning our first ever family olympics with their cousins at the greenspace behind our house… This recipe is bookmarked!
Thank you!
Does the color stay on the kids until they wash it off like Color Me Rad?
very washable.