I just loved Teach Preschool's post on Pumpkin Seed Soup, so, inspired by that, we created Googly Eye Soup. I guess we've been on a bit of an eyeball tangent this week with Halloween coming up (we shared our Giant Eyeball Sensory Bin and Edible Eyeball Sensory Play this week)! This was SO easy to put together, and as I'm looking through the photos, I didn't get a single photo of my kids' faces. I think that's how you know it was a total hit. Water sensory play is one of X's favorite things on the planet, so he was in heaven.
Oh, and before we get started with the photos - let me clarify that though X is young, he does not put anything in his mouth anymore - so he was allowed to join in the fun. Googly Eyes are definitely choking hazards, so if you have a baby or toddler who might pop one in their mouths, I'd suggest either going with just a colored water soup bin (still so fun!) or making large non-chokable sized eyeballs out of white and black foam sheets (they will behave identically to these if you use foam sheets!).
S dove for the scooping utensils first and began stirring and scooping bits of the soup.
Soup ladle full of eyeballs, anyone?
X thought the googly eyes were so funny ("eyes! eyes!") and especially liked fishing for the bigger googly eyes as they were easier targets.
Hahahaha - this photo kills me. Googly eyes are SO funny.
They both played side by side with S more concerned with pouring, mixing and stirring and X more concerned with grabbing and inspecting the different eyes and measuring cups and spoons.
Fishing for an eyeball!
X tried mimicking sister's use of the ladle. He didn't quite get it, but it was adorable to see him try so earnestly.
And just when we thought it couldn't get any cooler, we discovered that the wet googly eyes would stick to the sides of our bin with a little pressure. Hilarious!
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To make your own Googly Eye Soup, you'll need:
a variety of kitchen utensils
Liquid Watercolors or Food Coloring
I provided several measuring cups, some different sized spoons, a soup ladle, and a whisk for the kiddos. To make the water a cool purple, I used our beloved Liquid Watercolors, but you could also use food coloring. Our favorite place to buy Googly Eyes is the Dollar Tree (it's $1 for 125 various sized googly eyes - can't beat it) and those are the kind pictured here. The Dollar Tree has such a great variety of items for play - you can see more of what we buy from there in our Sensory Kit for Under $20 post. If you're curious about how I managed the water mess (no carpets were harmed in this play and it took less than 2 minutes to completely clean up!) you can read more about my tricks in my Managing Messy Play post.
I hope your kiddos have just as much as mine fun whipping up some delicious googly eye soup!
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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.
OMG! Pure genius! C loves googley eyes. Must. Do. This.
ReplyDeleteYAY! It was SO easy and so much! Hope he has a total blast!!!
DeleteDid the eyes take on water? How hard were they to dry afterwards?
ReplyDeleteNope - they were sealed, so they stayed dry. S and I grabbed them up with our hands (one of those times where clean up is super fun - hahaha!) and then I put them in an open container with a paper towel. They were all totally dry within a few hours. The plastic resists water, so they dried easily and quickly. :)
DeleteI'm going to do this with my class today. any suggestions on what else I can add to make it more things in the water... fitting with the theme? thanks
ReplyDeleteYou would be surprised at how much kiddos will love it with just the googly eyes, but if you definitely want to add more, maybe some plastic floating spiders?
DeleteThank you so much. I was just worried that eyes wouldn't be enough. Thanks for your advice
DeleteI did too when I set it up, but they were SO happy with just the eyes, they truly needed nothing else! Kids are awesome that way.
DeleteI did this with my class of 3 and 4 year olds. I added plastic spiders and bats. This was a hit! Most played there for an hour. I'll bring itout next week too.
DeleteOh yay!!!! I'm so glad! Super fun spooky soup!
DeleteLove it! a must try with my boy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Remy! I hope he has a blast!
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