Getting Messy with Cornstarch

A couple of weeks ago, CJ and his classmates made paper mache planets as part of a week's worth of learning about the solar system. CJ was all excited about planets; he can now name all of them - amazing.

When I dropped CJ off at school one day, I was admiring the planets that the kids had made and then painted that week. CJ's teacher commented on how CJ simply refused to work with the paper mache glue at first. She said he just kept saying no and was in tears until she just took his hand and dunked it in the glue, at which point, he apparently stopped crying and said, "oh, this isn't so bad, it's fun!"

I realized at that moment that CJ simply does not have enough "getting dirty" time at home.  He reads books, plays with his trains, takes walks, colors, etc., but he just doesn't get dirty.  And his yaya (nanny) just hates it when CJ gets messy or when she gets messy.

So one night, I decided it was time to play with cornstarch.  I took a bowl, filled it with cornstarch, added water and made a great batch of funky, gluey, sticky stuff.  As expected, at first CJ refused to touch the stuff, even though I was playing with it and having a ball.  So, taking a page from his teacher's book, I took on of his hands and dunked it in the paste.  CJ's attitude changed after that.  He and I got so messy!  He loved swishing his hands in the paste, watching it dribble from up high, splashing it on the counter.  

We marveled at how the paste would seem really solid when you played with it, but when you let your hands stop moving, the paste just flowed through your fingers.  And on the kitchen island, it would harden right away, but when you went to wipe it up, it turned to liquid again.  Amazing stuff.

CJ enjoyed spreading the cornstarch on the island until it was all gone from the bowl, at which point I had the fun job of cleaning up CJ, the island, the floor and the bar stools.  But boy did we have fun!  And I hope CJ won't be so hesitant about getting his hands dirty next time.  Note to self:  give CJ "getting messy" time on a regular basis!