Sensory Drawing Board

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AS A MOTHER KEENLY COMMITTED TO LIVING A LOW-IMPACT, SUSTAINABLE AND INSPIRED LIFE, I'm always on the lookout for activities to do with Charlie, especially as I haven't bought her too many toys. As with the rice project, I was searching for creative ways to use the Glob paints I had bought (which use natural, plant based pigments). I saw a project online that involved putting coloured hair gel in a bag for kids to squish and play with, which I wasn't interested in doing (I didn't like the waste factor or the chemicals in the hair gel), but it did spark another idea, which is shown above. What I ended up with was a squishy, fun little sensory drawing board that did several things—I made two in different colours, and used them as a learning tool for colour identification; the squishy texture provided hours of play as Charlie used her fingers to push the goo around which taught her a bit about how things react, or cause and effect; and finally, we used our fingers to draw simple shapes, or pressed objects into it like a stamp, which Charlie loved. The project was very easy, read on for directions (the recipe for the goo is by Family Fun Magazine, which I found here).

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As you can see, purple worked out better than green in this case.

MATERIALS

• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 cups cold water
• Food coloring (I used Glob natural paint pigments, you could also use natural spices such as tumeric)
• 2 gallon-size ziplock bags
• *1 lightweight board (I used a white plastic cutting board, which I don't use in the kitchen but it worked well for this)

1. Over medium heat, combine the cornstarch, sugar, and water in a saucepan, stirring continuously.
2. Once the mixture begins to thicken, remove the pan from the heat and stir for another minute or so until it thickens to a pudding like consistency. Let it cool for 30 minutes.
3. Spoon the goo mixture into two bowls, stir in a teaspoon or so of the dry Glob paint pigment in the colour of your choice, then spoon into the ziplock bags. 
4. Lay the bag on a flat surface and using your hands spread the goo until it's evenly distributed in the bag—it should be nice and flat at this point. Place the bag on the board and using masking tape, tape along the edges until the bag is firmly held in place (if I were making this project again it would be fun to use a colourful tape, but I was most concerned with getting the tape off, which makes masking tape the perfect choice). Flip board over and repeat process with the other bag/colour.
5. Now you can draw, stamp and play away. To resmooth out the goo, simply turn it over onto a hard surface and press down.

*If you don't have a suitable board or it's the wrong colour, you can slip a piece of white paper behind the bag prior to taping. Do the same thing on a table top surface as well for a non-portable option. 

The second time I did this project, I carefully layered two complimentary colours into the bag, being careful to keep them seperate as I flattened the bag (this is easier than it sounds because the goo is pretty thick). This created a lovely dual tone, but as Charlie played they combined to create a new colour. I used pink and blue to create purple. This was a simple enough tweak but added a new layer of fun and interest!)

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