PUD!

When I was pregnant with Logan I had a fear that I wouldn't know how to engage him or how to teach him about the world. Now I know that most of the lessons present themselves without planning. All the same, having resources for ideas is great! I am absolutely in love with a series of books that provide activities for children at various ages. I have the books from infant through age 5 and turn to them all the time! I ordered the first 3 off amazon.com and found the others at Rhea Lana's last year. I was so excited about the find at Rhea Lana that I shrieked and danced a little...my friend Krista was probably a bit frightened...oh nevermind, she knows me too well to be scared!

The books provide monthly age-appropriate activities for families. There are games, ideas, songs, recipes, homemade toys, etc. They also "highlight skills and abilities that are developing naturally" at each age. (Description totally ripped off from the back of the book!)

One of the activities in the 3 yr old book for this month was to make "Pud." I think my mom calls it magic mud. I poured cornstarch into a shallow baking pan. Logan played in the dry powder for a few minutes and we talked about how it felt on his hands. We have been working on opposites lately so this was a great activity to highlight dry versus wet!

Next, I gave him a small measuring cup of water and had him pour the water into the pan. He mixed the water and cornstarch with his fingers to create the "pud." If you've never tried this experiment, it is hard to describe. Pud looks liquid but feels solid. You pick it up in your hands as a solid but it pours and drips off as a liquid. I saw a MythBusters episode once where they filled a large vat full of pud and ran across the top. If they stood still for a second, they would sink into the liquid.

Logan loved this experiment and we will definitely repeat in the future! Pud made for a fun, inexpensive science activity that allowed Logan and I to get sticky, gooey, and sloppy! PUD!