Messy Learning Lab: Just Add Water

Is water really messy? I planned all these activities with water and the answer is decidedly, "YES!"

Luckily, my wonderful, amazing, fantastic co-worker, John, had the foresight to put a tarp down, or the hard wood floors may have taken a hit. I filled two under-the-bed storage totes with water. I added some toys to one and floating things to the second.

We used spray bottles at both craft tables. Possibly a favorite activity involved children spraying EVERYTHING. Spraying really works those motor skills! One table had relief painting with liquid watercolors.

The other table used the tried and true method of staining regular paper with tissue paper.

I recently purchased egg shakers to use in storytimes, so these homemade sand shakers got a new life. I poked holes in the bottoms, so the kids could shake, shake, shake the sand into some water. I just love the feeling of wet sand.

No water program is complete without water beads! You can see my hand turning the small tote so both boys could reach at the same time. I really needed a bigger tote for this activity. I just didn't have many beads left after the last event. I paired the beads with sand toys. They enjoyed fitting as many beads as they could into each shape.

Another simple activity made new by adding water. Cover a chalkboard, or sidewalk, with chalk markings, then use water to paint. Draw and repeat.

This mat is a chalkboard banner! I've used it several times since this event and I love it, but the first time it was super stiff even after ironing. I added water to cornstarch and food coloring to make chalk paint. It dries with a cool texture.

I saved the favorite for last. The Ooey Gooey Lady had an obstacle course set up for a conference on Facebook recently. This is my take on it. I taped bubble wrap to the floor and added blue balls to the parachute (water and umbrella).

Adding water is easy, cost effective and so fun. Have you added water to any activities? Leave me a comment with some links! I'd love to see what you've been up to this summer.

Messy Learning Lab: Moon Sand, Floam and Planning Ideas

Moon sand is a great sensory substance for toddlers to explore. It sticks together easily, so it can be molded  and squeezed. I added a few puzzles pieces with large knobs and stamps with elastic handles to make impressions in the sand.

Floam, or foam dough as I've seen it advertised in stores, was a big hit at the previous MLL, so I put it out in a slightly new way by adding golf tees. The children made snowmen, hedgehogs and monsters.

There are lots of resources online for planning messy activities. The library is also a great place to find ideas. I suggest looking in the science area of your library. We have a preschool section, but you can also find fun experiments in Science Fair books. Other sections I frequently pull books from are the parenting section (especially for toddlers) and the craft section. I'll be offering more Messy Learning Labs in May, so check my blog for even more messy play ideas.

Messy Learning Lab: Baking Cookies

When I'm trying to come up with ideas for activities at the library and at home, I search through the items I already have on hand. It helps to keep costs down and lets me be creative. For the baking cookies activity, I already had icing bags, Kool-aid and icing mix.

At first, I tried to mix the Kool-aid with the shaving cream to put in the bags. It smelled fantastic and looked great but wasn't easy to get into the bags. So I added white glue to the mix and it worked much better. I used pink lemonade Kool-aid and mint icing flavoring (powder). 

The children decorated cardboard cookies with "icing" and "sprinkles" of glitter and shaved soap. Since I mixed shaving cream and glue, the cookies could dry and be used for further imaginative play.

Sharing with the Weekly Kids Co-op and For the Kid's Friday.

Messy Learning Lab: Noodles

Vibrant, rainbow noodles, fun! I cooked four boxes of different types of  noodles with lots of oil Ooey Gooey Lady style. After I drained the noodles, I added liquid watercolor or food coloring. Either method creates brilliant colors. The blue noodles are neon blue food coloring.

Add some cooking utensils and you've got a great sensory experience.

I used two boxes of uncooked noodles mixed with liquid watercolors to set up a lacing activity. Every mom needs a macaroni necklace in her jewelry box. Plastic needles make lacing through the noodles easy for even the smallest hands.

I suggest tying a large bead on the end to prevent the noodles from sliding off. Penne noodles work the best as they have the largest openings. These necklaces make a wonderful homemade present.

Sharing with Tuesday Tots.

Messy Learning Lab: Painting with Real Tools

The invitation for painting with real tools is simple. I re-used the box from the MLL's glow-in-the-dark session. The library already has painting tools and trays. I did use washable tempera paint as I anticipated it dripping on the floor and being spread with little feet.

The lab lasts for two hours and the box painting activity had participants for the entire time!

I used two entire bottles of tempera paint. We put the box out in the children's section for everyone to admire throughout the rest of the month. I love hearing the excited voices coming from the stacks, "I did that!"

Sharing with Montessori Monday and Tuesday Tots.

Messy Learning Lab: Water and Glowing Fun

The slime I made for the Water and Glowing Messy Learning Lab was a failure. Yep, I think I let the solution sat in the Borax too long. It would stretch a little, then break apart.

It still had an interesting texture and looked beautiful mixed together. Oh, and it bounced!

I found some test tubes and goggles at Discount School Supply that are perfect for preschoolers. The water is tinted with food coloring, yellow, red and blue.

Little scientists work really hard.

In addition to water beads and baby water beads, I also set up watercolor painting on the "water" side of the room.

On the glow-in-the-dark side of the room, I made GID playdough. You add GID paint to any play dough recipe. I didn't like the texture of the play dough after adding the paint, though. It was really sticky. Maybe I should use less paint?

A local furniture store donated a large box for me to poke holes in and stick lots of glow sticks all over.

I expected the glow sticks to wind up in little hands and was not disappointed. At one point, they spanned the length of the room!

The glowing sensory box had hedgeballs, beads, stars, rocks, glow sticks and rattles.

As all the glowing materials need time to charge, I left the lights on in the room for several hours before opening the doors. I also left mini-flashlights at the door for the children to use while in the room.

I set up a black light station with items I had on hand that would glow.

The yellow highlighters worked best on the coloring mat. The white farm animal puppets also worked great under the black light. I have an inexpensive point and shoot camera, so it was difficult to get good pictures in the dark (what with the constant movement).

Not pictured is the glow-in-the-dark silly putty, which turned out to be a favorite with the parents. It's great to play with on hard wood floors and easy to pick up. And that wraps up the water and glowing fun!

Sharing with Tuesday Tots and For the Kid's Fridays.

Messy Learning Lab: Water Beads for Babies

You may be thinking, "How can water be messy?" These activities are all water-based, so the clean-up is a breeze. Introducing water beads to the library is probably going to be my claim to fame. No one at the library has ever heard of these, which means none of them are reading my blog!

Me, being the Queen of Worry, placed the water bead bin on a regular height table. I repeatedly warned, "Do Not EAT this." I had nightmares prior to the event of the sweet babies being rushed to the emergency room. But after several minutes, I did this...

Thankfully, the parents were on top of security, I mean paying careful attention with this activity. I didn't want  the under three crowd to feel left out, so I made them "baby water beads."

I filled the other bin with enough water for the ball-pit balls to float.

See, there is no way that ball is fitting in that mouth!

The boys love water beads. Everyone survived and had a great time! I think my small town may run low on water beads for the next couple of months.

I'll be sharing more water-based, messy activities this week. In the other messy play room, I finally planned glow-in-the-dark sensory play. Don't miss it.

Sharing with Tuesday Tots and Kids Co-Op

Messy Learning Lab: Gingerbread Cloud Dough and Clay

The two messiest activities in the Messy Learning Lab are gingerbread cloud dough and clay.

Recipe:

7 cups flour

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 container of cinnamon (Dollar Tree)

We started out with the dough in the box, but the children were having trouble reaching it so I dumped it onto the table. The dough feels soft and fluffy but packs well to make shapes. They pretended to make muffins and cupcakes. The dough smells delicious!

The dough is actually easy to clean up with a broom and a mop. However, it created a slippery floor. I used the puzzle mat from storytime as a non-slip surface around the table. The dough on the table can be used again by brushing it all back in the box.

Messiest Activity!!!

I purchased clay from Discount School Supply two years ago for a Summer Reading Club program. We used almost half of it and I saved the rest. Since it dried out quite a bit, I soaked it in water before the program. I wanted a pliable consistency and boy did I get it! 

The children loved squirting the clay with water to create a gooey masterpiece. This table took the longest to clean. My husband used one of the clay tools to scrape all the extra clay off. We used heavy duty wipes and spray to get the rest of the mess up. J also mopped the floor around the table.

Did you miss any of the Messy Learning Lab?

Bubble Wrap Shaving Cream Table

Packing Peanut Sensory Bin

Rainbow Floam and Rice

Mini-Volcanoes and Finger Painting

Next week, I'll be sharing activities from the second MLL.
Sharing with Kids Co-op and It's Playtime!

Messy Learning Lab: Mini Volcanoes and Fingerpainting

The two activities I'm sharing today are classic messy play. Sometimes simplicity works best!

Crayola fingerpaints and fingerpaint paper from Discount School Supply invitation. After using the special, glossy paper, I highly recommend it. The paints spread easily and didn't tear the paper even after several layers of paint. The product retained the brilliant colors of the paints even after drying.

Fingerpaints are so fun!

Mini volcano invitation, vinegar in spill-proof cups (DSS, again) with liquid watercolors for color, baking soda and vinegar from the Dollar Tree, and pipettes from DSS.

The mini volcanoes are always a favorite at the library. I'm surprised more people don't do this simple science experiment at home. I recommend it for reluctant bathers as a fun bathtime activity. It's also easy to set up in the kitchen while you're busy preparing meals.

Water removes most of the mess of these activities. I'm happy to say the fingerpaints came right off the wallpaper and the floor (our custodian helped with the clean-up, so I'm not sure what he used). I did throw out the table cover for the mini-volcanoes.

I'll be sharing the two messiest activities from the Learning Lab on Saturday. I'm hosting Flannel Friday this week for the first time!

Sharing with Kids Co-Op and TGIF