Toddler Cement and “Dwoppers”

The Joy! The Science!

Oh how times have changed. I used to get excited when a much-hyped movie hit the theaters or when I had saved enough money to buy a designer handbag. Now I get excited when I get a toddler item delivered that will be used to conduct awesome experiments and energize sensory play.

Click on “Read More” to find out how we used these awesome little guys.

 
The much-anticipated Learning Resources Twisty Droppers arrived late last week from Zulilly. I have been itching to get an experiment going with them… Yes, let’s all take a moment to pause and say, “Oh, that’s kind of a little bit sad.” But I don’t care, because its so true!! I just knew Danger would love them. Here’s the package in case you want to secure some of these guys. There are four in the pack.
 
Daddy had been pouring cement to reinforce the area around the back steps and was super tired after our morning outing to the farmer’s market. There was a lot of playing going on, so Danger was exhausted as well.
 
 
Mommy is a horrible napper. It’s just the way it is even though there are days that mommy wishes she could. While Daddy and Danger were both napping, I worked on setting up a water play session outside. In true Pacific Northwest fashion however, it began to rain. A lot. Saved by a Dollar Store shower curtain we purchased for use as a crafting drop cloth, I was able to move this bit-o-fun into the kitchen.
 
The set up on the shower curtain:
1) a bin of flour,
2) a small bin of extra, extra light olive oil (the really cheap stuff we use to pop popcorn),
3) two paper towel ‘canvases,’
4) a tray with glue-dot-fixed-down containers holding food-coloring colored water, &
5) our new twisty droppers.
 
Sorry about the lighting for this one. As some of you know, I take all pictures on my iPhone and never edit them (‘cuz I’m prioritizing pretty much everything over that task). As I said up top, it got nasty and dark so the lighting absolutely stunk!
 

 

Danger was definitely intrigued by the colored water and even pointed and said, “water red!” It’s kind of out of order but hey, she’s only 18 months so I figure if the words are a little mixed up but the meaning is there, it’s all good!
 
 
We sat down in a dark colored tank and a brown diaper because I am leery now of anything that bills itself as “washable…” I showed Elise how to squeeze the droppers and sadly – oh, so sadly – I missed getting her reaction to the droppers as they shot out colored liquid!
 
It. Was. Just. Priceless! Jeff and I loved seeing her face fill with such awe and amazement. She would watch me fill them but didn’t try that part herself.
 
Here she is after a couple minutes of getting into the activity. She quickly saturated both canvases and became more interested in squirting the water from the droppers right onto our drop cloth. The colors were much more vibrant, but we still had to talk about the water’s reaction to the flour and the oil.
 

 

Moving to the flour bin, she giggled when the colors pooled up and then sunk in. She had to empty each dropper a couple of times before moving to the oil.
 

 

The oil bin was probably the coolest looking one because she left it alone for a bit which allowed there to be very distinct red, blue and green ‘bubbles’ of color. It didn’t last long though because it was just too tempting for Danger – she HAD to stir it! Alas, our oil became a lovely shade of purple after such vigorous color mixing.
 

 

The fun was just getting started! After exhausting her colored water supply, Danger stuck her hands into the flour bin and began to sqeeeeeeeeeeeze her fingers a lot. It really is a cool feeling! I hadn’t intended on this being a sensory activity, but I suppose we should chalk that up as a perk.
 

 

As a reminder: liquid + flour = paste. Or, as I like to call it, toddler cement. It was all fun and games until she got so excited that she began flailing her arms about. Toddler cement made it all over the toddler, onto the tile, the cabinets, the refrigerator, the counters, the trash can and yes, oh yes, the Mommy.
 
A coupe of action shots before Mommy realized what was happening:
 
 

 

Thankfully Danger is very good at using her ‘listening ears’ and promptly ceased flinging toddler cement when both Mom and Dad asked her to. At the same time. In unison. We had to laugh though.
 
Dad whisked baby away to the bath and Mom began the lengthy clean up. This really was a super-fun activity for her!

 

 

We will definitely do this activity again. Outside would be best though so that everything, and everyone, can just be hosed off!

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