Good Clean Fun

I have been waiting forever to do this “clean mud” project. It’s actually a toddler sensory activity, but I think it’s actually more fun with older kids who can really appreciate the cool texture. Very easy. All you need is Ivory soap, toilet paper, and water.

 First, grate the bar of Ivory soap into a bucket (we used two bars).

Then have the moppets tear the toilet paper into shreds (the smaller the pieces the better) and add to the bucket.

The moppets all complained about how “hard” this was. Don’t worry, I set them straight with a lecture about how hard they’d have to work if they lived on a farm. Or back in the pioneer days. Or just about anywhere else in the world. Shredding two rolls of toilet paper for ten minutes is hardly hard work, my dears.

After the soap and TP are all shredded, start adding water. It took about three of these small pitchers, which was more than I expected, but don’t use too much.

Add it gradually and have the moppets squish it around.

After enough squishing, it’ll turn the consistency of whipped cream. It feels really cool.

We decided to get a little crazy and add some coloring. I keep a few of these Kool-Aid packets on hand for such things. Actually, I have them for coloring home-made play dough, since they make bright colors and smell yummy.

The coloring reinvigorated the moppets, and they really went to town with the squishing.

Yes, there was some arguing involved. Then they worked out a 10-second rotating squishing schedule. I was proud.

It came out a pretty light blue color. We used some of it to sculpt ocean scenes onto small pieces of cardboard. We’re going to let them dry overnight to see if they hold their shape.

Highly recommended activity for a summer day. Easy to clean up with just a hose, although they got a lot of it on the driveway, which is now covered in tiny shreds of TP that didn’t dissolve all the way. I’d be more careful not to let them go crazy with it, knowing that it doesn’t wash away completely.

Wee! Learning is fun. 🙂

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