Fairy Dust Teaching shared a great post on making moon sand the other day, and I realized that we had not made any of ours in a long time! So, today..... We made some!
We started with cornstarch.
Then we added about 1 1/2 times of the colored sand. It is not an exact science, but you don't want to end up with too much more sand than cornstarch. It is the cornstarch that gives the sand it's unique moon sand qualities! Fairy Dust Teaching uses water, we like to use oil instead. With two boxes of cornstarch and an equal amount of sand, we use about 2 smaller bottles of baby oil. (Most of the time!) Today, I noticed that we were out of baby oil! So, instead, we used some old tanning oil and added vegetable oil until we achieved the right consistency. (I asked the children if they wanted to try the new recipe, but they didn't want to try it today!)
Moon sand is great because it is like a sand, but when you mold it, it keeps the shape.
So, now instead of *cross your fingers* snowballs, we can make sand balls!
(I say cross your fingers because although there is no longer snow on the ground, we did have flurries in the air the past couple of days!)
The sand also compacts nicely to make mountains and volcanoes.
Maybe this afternoon, while they are napping, I'll whip up a batch of the other recipe and we can compare the two! (We really like trying different recipes of the same/similar things... remember our
slime off?)
I'll keep you posted if we do!
Oh!!! And don't forget, I'm posting my What Would You Do With It? post on Friday this week instead of today!
Tinkerlab is celebrating a blogiversary and a large group of bloggers are taking a cardboard box challenge, Do you have any great ideas on how to use a box?????
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Comments
light and peace
On an update note, I opted not to try the other recipe this afternoon. The sun came out and we spent all of our time outside!
What to do with a cardboard box....hmmmm....
I didn't know there was a way to make home made moon sand - it sounds like a good science activity as well as of course fun to play with the finished project.
Beautiful photos, as always!I'm glad you were able to get outside in the afternoon!
Brenda
Abbie- I love our sensory table. (Although it is plastic-- we have a lot of plastic I'm working on trying to get rid of and replace with other more natural materials... It is a process...) The table works great for so many things, and for our home, this one is just the perfect size. It isn't as small as some, but is definitely not the "full size" that a lot of sensory tables are.
Brenda- Thanks we had a great time.... With hours outside, the park and the yard. We are soaking up this nice weather while we have it!
Jaime- You'll have a great time with it, I know all of the children here do.