This is one of those activities that did not go as planned, BUT turned out to be SO much fun, especially for my sensory seeking girl! Keep on reading to see what was the original plan, and how it turned out…
So I wanted to make ice cream dough, you know, one that you can mold and such, so I took out the rice milk powder I had in the cupboard for a really long time, banana flavoured pudding and icing sugar. We mixed it up and left it in the freezer in the hope it will stiffen up, but it did not, so we just played with it as goo! It was more slimy than goo(corn flour and water), thicker too. And on top of that it tasted nice, like banana ice cream because of the pudding.
These silicone holders and ice cream spoon were added, and of course sprinkles!
My 4 year old daughter had a pretend ice cream shop and she dished up for all her “friends”. I let her play the way she wants, making this an open ended activity with lots of room for imaginative play, but full of learning opportunity! Fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination are at work here, as well as one-on-one correspondence, not to mention the sensory experience she has: touching, smelling and tasting!
It was not long that she decided her hands work better than the spoon, and for her sensory seeking nature, this was heaven! Tasting it too, of course, but totally fine since it is all edible(and yummy) ingredients!
We played with the goo while brother(18 months) was napping, so just before bath time, the goo and both kids went into the empty bath! At first he was a bit hesitant, but after a while he painted his own foot, tasted the goo and had so much fun, just like his sister.
After they experienced(not just played), we rinsed them off, and had proper bath time as per usual. Easy way to contain the mess, and make clean up easier too!
A great activity for older toddlers and preschoolers, why don’t you try it today with your kids?
:->
Love when even when things don’t go as planned they wind up being fun to play with!