Squish, Gloop, and Glop!- Sensory Lab
Super Saturday Workshop - May 6, 2017
Why get Messy?
Sensory play builds nerve connections in the brain’s pathways, which lead to the child’s ability to
complete more complex learning tasks .Sensory play supports language development, cognitive growth,
fine and gross motor skills, problem solving skills, and social interaction.
Open ended questions to support children’s critical thinking skills:
 What does it feel/ look/ smell like? Is it what you
 How do you think we can find out?
expected?
 How many ways can you…?
 What could we make with this?
 How do you think ___ and ___ are alike?
 What do you think will happen if…
How are they different?
 I wonder why…
 Can you think of a way to…?
 How do you think that happened?
 Tell me about what you feel doing this.
 What do you know about…?
These words can be used to describe the activities you are doing in your classroom. Link them to the
day’s events to show what the children were doing. (http://www.ooeygooey.com/a-crash-course-in-thelanguage-of-wolves/)
Absorption
Action
Amplify
Arranging
Balance
Buoyant
Carbon Dioxide
Cause
Chemical reaction
Classification
Coagulate
Constancy
Constructing
Cooperation
Density
Displaying
Dissolve
Distance
Effect
Evaporation
Experimenting
Explaining
Exploring
Force
Friction
Gravity
Hearing
Heavy
Identifying
Inertia
Inflate
Investigating
Large Motor
Light
Listening
Magnetic
Magnification
Manipulating
Matching
Measurements
Membrane
Naming
Observing
Opposites
Ordering
Patterning
Problem Solving
Propulsion
Questioning
Reaction
Reconstructing
Rhythm
Risk Taking
Seeking
Sight
Small Motor
Smell
Spatial Representation
Static Electricity
Surface Tension
Suspension
Taste
Temperature
Tone
Touch
Vibration
Weight
Books: 150+ Screen Free- Activities for Kids, Asia Citro, Med
The Ooey Gooey® Handbook: Identifying and Creating Child-Centered Environments, Lisa Murphy
Ooey Gooey® Tooey: 140 Exciting Hands-On Activity Ideas for Young Children, Lisa Murphy
Basil Seed Gak
Borax Free Gak
150+ Screen Free- Activities for Kids, Asia Citro, Med
1 cup cornstarch
2 tbs basil seeds
1 ¼ cup water (with color, if desired)
Food coloring (optional)
1. In a bowl or container, mix together cornstarch
and basil seeds
2. Add ½ cup water to dry ingredients and mix well
(add color if desired). It will take 5-10 minutes
for the seeds to absorb water and thicken the
slime. Keep kneading and mixing the slime until
it no longer sticks to your hands.
150+ Screen Free- Activities for Kids, Asia Citro, Med
2 ¼ cups cornstarch
½ cup shampoo (thick gel like works best)
6-9 tablespoons of water
Food coloring (optional)
1. Place the cornstarch in bowl
2. If coloring, mix in food coloring or liquid water color
to shampoo until combined
3. Add shampoo mixture to cornstarch and stir to
combine. It will be crumbly
4. Add the water; one tablespoon at a time, mixing
thoroughly to combine. Kneed with your hands. You
want to add enough water that a rolled portion of
the dough forms a ball that melts if you hold in your
hand.
Puffy Slime
½ cup of glue
½ cup shaving cream
Food coloring (optional)
½ cup foaming hand soap
2-3 pumps of hand lotion
1 tbs cornstarch
Borax solution (1 cup hot water, 1 tsp borax)
1. Fold together all glue, shaving cream, food
coloring, hand soap, hand lotion and cornstarch.
2. Add one teaspoon of the borax solution at a
time until the mixture does not stick and holds
together in a stretchy consistency.
 Tip: if the slime breaks or does not
stretch, add more hand lotion and soap.
Borax Free/ Saline Slime
4 oz or ½ cup of glue
½ tsp baking soda
Food coloring
1-2 tbs Contact solution (contact solution must have Boric
acid)
Baby oil
1. Mix together glue, baking soda, and food coloring in
a bowl.
2. Add one teaspoon of the saline solution at a time
until the mixture does not stick to sides of bowl and
holds together in a stretchy consistency.
3. Add a few drops of baby oil.
Floam
4 oz or ½ cup of glue
½ tsp baking soda
Food coloring
Shaving cream
Contact solution as needed (contact solution must have Boric acid)
Foam beads ( or blend a Styrofoam cup in blender with water to make beads)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mix together glue, baking soda, shaving cream, and food coloring.
Add contact solution one squirt at a time until it separates from the bowl, it should be a bit runny and sticky
Pour Styrofoam balls into the bowl directly and begin to kneed
Keep adding Styrofoam balls until desired consistency reached
 Tip: Add the balls directly into bowl and kneed in bowl to avoid mess
 Beads can be purchased on Amazon.com