Messy Fun with Marshmallow Dough

I was cleaning out the cupboards when I found a tin of (very) expired custard powder. I hate wasting food and as custard powder is essentially just flavoured, coloured cornstarch (maizena) and you will know by now that I use cornstarch for many things, from dry shampoo (see this post for directions), to nappy rash cream (make a paste with a little water) to goo (see this post for instructions). Today, I decided we would just have fun with it.

I found a recipe online using cornflour and shaving foam a while back. I do not remember what they called it but I will dub it marshmallow dough as it has that super soft, fluffy, powdery texture of marshmallows, but is just more stretchy and pliable. You have to feel the texture for yourself to understand just how soft and fluffy it is (but be warned- you will want to play with it too). 

Mine happened to have a sweet marshmallow-like smell thanks to the lovely vanilla fragrance of the custard powder. If you are using cornstarch and not custard powder, you could add a few drops of marshmallow essence (or any other fragrance).

INSTRUCTIONS:
 
So here is what you do.

First you add some shaving foam to a bowl (about the amount that a man would use to shave his face, if that makes any sense). The kids loved this part!!!

You can add a few drops of food colouring if desired. Noodle wanted pink and I added some pink gel colouring, but thanks to the yellow colour in the custard powder mine turned out more of a peachy-orange colour. Alternatively, you could leave it white (if using normal cornflour and not custard) and use it to create faux snow.

Now add the custard powder (or cornflour) a little at a time until you get the desired texture (I probably used about half the amount of the shaving foam) and mix. 

Then it is play time! Let the kids mould, stretch, pull, squeeze or poke to their hearts desire.

(WARNING: This might smell delicious but it is not edible). 

  
This gets messy as the dough is very sticky, so protect surfaces or play with it outside (like we did) and have a bowl of soapy water close by. You will be glad to know that it washes out very easily (due to the soapiness of the shaving foam I suppose).

Squish was covered in it by the time we were done and I literally needed to hose him off outside before coming back on the house. 

The bad news is that it loses its texture after about an hour one all the air inside the shaving foam has been squeezed out (well that was our experience anyway). It is fun while it lasts though!

Slime... lots of Slime

We previously told you about Nickfest, which is coming to town in a week! (If you missed it, you can see more here.) Here are some exciting updates from the guys at Nickolodeon. We can't wait!!!

"Thousands of kids, tweens and teens descending on South Africa's first NickFest later this months will have a chance to witness their favourite celebrities get covered top to toe in Nickolodeon's (DSTv channel 305) iconic green slime. Sizwe Dhlomo, Anele Mdoda, Darren “Whackhead” Simpson, Proverb, Pearl Thusi, Cassper Nyovest and Mi Casa  are among the kind-hearted South African stars who are lining up to get doused in Slime as part of the NickFest Celebrity Slime Challenge.  NickFest performers Morgan Beat Box, The Buzz and the  Tsogo Sun Arts Academy All Stars will also be braving the slime pit during the family friendly festival.
 
The “slimedown” of epic proportions will be presided over by funnyman and real life doctor Riaad Moosa, the official host of NickFest, as he encourages the celebrities to get dunked in gallons of goo while trying to keep his pristine doctor’s coat out of the mess!  
 
With less than two weeks to go, the NickFest production crew is currently perfecting its recipe for the Slime, made to a secret Nickelodeon recipe. It will take 4 days to prepare more than 3,000 litres of the slippery concoction, which kids will be able to experience first-hand for themselves  at NickFest - don’t forget to bring a towel and a change of clothing!
 
Tasania Parsadh, Senior Channel Manager, Nickelodeon, Africa, said, “It is thrilling to see how willing stars are to  get totally icky and covered in buckets of bright green goo  when it is in the interests of helping kids in need.  All proceeds from the NickFest Celebrity Slime Challenge plus ten percent of funds from ticket sales at NickFest will be donated to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust to help towards the ongoing construction of a state-of-the art  pediatric hospital in South Africa, in Parktown, Johannesburg - and if that’s not worth getting sticky for, then nothing is!!!”
 
The SA “slimees” join the prestigious ranks of stars from P!nk, to Tom Cruise, the cast of Modern Family, Jo Jonas, Jennifer Lopez, Sandra Bullock, Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, Halle Berry, Harrison Ford, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Five Seconds of Summer, Chris Pratt, Justin Bieber,  and many others who have all previously been slimed by Nickelodeon.
 
Tickets for NickFest are now on sale at Computicket, priced R110 per ticket (entry free for children under 2).
 
For more information on NickFest please go to www.nickelodeonafrica.com, like us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/NickelodeonAfrica, or follow us on Twitter @NickAfrica and on Instagram @Nickelodeon_Africa. To join the conversation about NickFest, please use the hashtag #NickFest."

Psychedelic Hair Mousse Art

I remember previously seeing some interesting uses for shaving foam for art activities on Pinterest. When I spotted a bottle of hair mousse in my drawer which was older than Noodle (I am not sure why I actually own hair mousse since I have no recollection of ever using it), I figured that it should have similar tactile properties and decided to let the kids experiment.Today's quick, messy art activity with my little ones needed just three things: paper, the hair mousse and food colouring.

 

Top left: mousse squirted on paper | Bottom left: Food colouring fizzing on mousse | 

Right: End product

We squirted lots of hair mousse onto a page- both kids had a turn at this and found this bit hilarious. Then we sprinkled a few different colours of food colouring all over the page (today I used powder colour as this made the mousse fizz and make interesting noises, though I am sure other types might create better results aesthetically). We may have used a bit too much purple colour as this seems to have overpowered the other colours a bit.

Then the kids got to squish their fingers into the foamy, fluffy, fizzy mess for a fun, sensory experience. I let Noodle make patterns in the foam using a plastic fork and a toothpick. Then we blotted it a bit with a paper towel and left it to dry. The result was a psychedelic rainbow of colour.

The mousse is quite soapy and washes off hands without problems. Oh and the paper smells pretty afterwards.

Messy Fun with Edible Yoghurt Paint

If you have smaller kids, they will love getting their hands dirty with this edible finger paint!

At fifteen months, Squish still has a tendency to put everything in his mouth, so I love arty activities that are not likely to end in a call to Poison Control. This yoghurt paint is baby safe and takes just seconds to make and a little goes a long way.

The paint has just two ingredients, yoghurt and food colouring. I used double cream yoghurt (which was about to expire anyway, so I felt less guilty about food wastage) and gel food colouring.

Yoghurt paint made with yoghurt and food colouring

I put about a teaspoon of plain yoghurt into each compartment of an ice tray (I have an old one that is reserved for messy art activities). Then I added a little food colouring to each one. I put a good squirt of colouring in each one as I wanted vibrant colours, but in retrospect I would put less as the finger stains were a bit tough to get out afterwards. Mix the yoghurt and the colour and voila, paint is ready.

Before you let the little ones loose with the paint, I would suggest some mess control as this gets messy. I stripped Squish down to just his vest, put aprons on for both kids and put down a big plastic tablecloth on the floor. Then I let the kids do their thing.

 Squish was reluctant at first, but once he got into it he really enjoyed it. All the colours were soon varying shades of brown and green as Squish dipped his fingers in every pot. Noodle did not seem to mind the colours being mixed- she was lost in deep concentration painting her fairy. Gulp... I made the faux pas of complimenting her ninja turtle (the fairy ninja-turtle is in the top left of the pics below).

The final masterpieces

The end result was quite impressive in my view (but I am biased), although clean up was a bit of a schlep and Squish had to have a bath afterwards. 

P.S. We have experimented with edible paints made with flour, water and colouring before, but I prefer the texture and finish of the yoghurt paint, which does not become powdery once dry. You can also add edible food glitter for a shimmer effect.

The Jozi WAHM's Guide to Making Gloopy Goo

This is another fun sensory activity that I came across looking for fun, educational activities that would be suitable for both a four year old and a one year old.

Making the goo is incredibly simple and only requires cornflour (maizena), water and food colouring (optional). This is how it is made:

1. Place one cup of hot water in a bowl.
2. I added the food colouring at the end but it was incredibly hard to stir so I would recommend adding it at this point instead. A drop or two is enough. I used green gel food colouring.
3. Add about two cups of maizena to the water, a little at a time, stirring gently as you go along.You might need a little more or less than this. It will become quite stiff and difficult to stir. 

1. Left: The maizena (cornflour) used to make the goo. Right: Maizena and water mixture. 

Once ready, this mixture takes on amazing properties. It looks liquid, but is solid on touching as force causes its viscosity to change. . If pressed it becomes rock hard, while it becomes liquid again if left alone.

I figured that the science behind non-Newtonian fluids was likely to go straight over the heads of my little ones, but they enjoyed practically testing the amazing properties of this mixture. They enjoyed watching the results as they poked and prodded, turned the mixture upside down (it looks runny but does not move) and squeezed it between their hands. This kept them busy for ages! It did seem to dry out after a while though.

With older children, a physics lesson can be incorporated into the activity.

Warning 1:

This is really messy. I did this outside to minimise the cleaning afterwards. Nevertheless, I had two filthy kids by the end of it. No surprise, Squish ate some of it, but called it quits when he realised it was not particularly pleasant tasting. 

Warning 2:

Do not throw this mixture down the drain as it will cause blockages. Rather dispose of it in he dustbin. Apparently it can be stored in a Ziplock bag for later use, but my mixture was full of grass and toddler drool so I opted to throw it out.

Noodle and Squish getting their hands dirty