Well around here, as you know, we love a good rainbow.
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Another big favorite is baking soda and vinegar. So why not combine them, right? After seeing Blog Me Mom's gorgeous Rainbow Oobleck, I knew S needed her own sensory rainbow! And bonus? If it's hot out, toss the baking soda mix in the fridge for a few minutes first and it will be nice and cold to the touch!
S wasted no time in diving right in and mix-mix-mixing. We oohed and aahed over all the beautiful swirling colors.
The colors were so vibrant, even after she'd mixed quite vigorously!
Once she felt her slush was mixed enough, it was time for the vinegar to come out. If you or your child are bothered by the scent of vinegar, be sure to check out our Fizzy Foaming Car Wash to learn a neat trick we discovered to completely mask the vinegar smell.
A lot of fizzing fun was had and we surveyed what was left and decided it looked like an other-Earthly beach. So out came the shells!
Interestingly enough, there were layers of baking soda that retained bright streaks of color just below the surface of the beach.
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We really loved the subdued, yet still colorful beach we'd created. It was deemed ready for some sea life so out came some of our Safari Ltd Ocean TOOB creatures.
If you haven't yet played with baking soda as a sensory material, we really think you should! It is so soft and smooth when wet. It made the perfect white sand for our beach in our Hidden Ocean Small World and a great FREEZING cold sensory material in our Dinosaurs and Sensory Snow Small World. I am always surprised by how fun it is to play with each time we bring it out as a solo sensory material. And the Dollar Tree sells boxes for 59 cents each! So it's a great bargain to boot!
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To make your own Rainbow Slush, mix baking soda and water in a roughly 1:1 ratio (it's very forgiving, so I always eyeball it) and then add either Colorations Liquid Watercolors
(What are Liquid Watercolors?) as we do here or food coloring until you get the shade of color you'd like. Baking soda is heavy and will settle out of the water if you let it sit for long, so I like to keep spoons in the containers. If you are cooling your slush down in the fridge first, you will need to stir it again once it comes back out. Here I took a tray of the colors out on our deck and stirred each before pouring it into our sensory tub.
(What are Liquid Watercolors?) as we do here or food coloring until you get the shade of color you'd like. Baking soda is heavy and will settle out of the water if you let it sit for long, so I like to keep spoons in the containers. If you are cooling your slush down in the fridge first, you will need to stir it again once it comes back out. Here I took a tray of the colors out on our deck and stirred each before pouring it into our sensory tub.
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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.
This is really cool! We love playing with baking soda. And you feel clean afterwards! I would love it if you shared this on my blog hop today! http://teachingmama.org/tender-moments-blog-hop-24/
ReplyDeleteThank you Angela! I'll go share now before I forget! I am so terrible at remembering to link up! :)
DeleteCute - love this! We will be trying it soon. :-)
ReplyDeleteYAY! I love hearing that, Marie! :) :) :)
Deletewow I really need to try this with my little girl!
ReplyDeleteOh, please do! And have a camera ready for all the swirly colors! It's so pretty and baking soda is so soft and fun to play with! :)
Deleteoooh this looks like SO MUCH FUN!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kate! It was so pretty!!!!
DeleteWow, I love the picture of the shells in the foam! Otherworldly is right. This looks like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jessica! It was soooo cool to see all the little rivulets of color. Baking soda is neat. :)
DeleteFun and pretty!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shannon!!!
DeleteLOve, love, love! Can't wait to give this a go! And great tip to put the baking soda mix in the fridge first. Perfect for painting outside on a hot day.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ann!!! :) :) :)
DeleteWow im actually amazed and cant believe ive never seen this. Cant wait to try it!!!! Perfect ofsted moment as well as a really lovely open ended activity! Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Anonymous. Hope it's a hit! :)
Deletethank you! do her clothes get stained w/ liquid water colors? haven't bought them yet. thanks, abi
ReplyDeleteWe've never had staining on any clothes - to be safe, we always wash them right after - but it's one of the reasons we LOVE liquid watercolors. We've only had highly washable experiences with them! :) :) :)
DeleteCan't wait to try this with my students!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I hope they have a blast!! :)
DeleteYour blog is amazing!! I´m a teacher from Brazil and I love all of it! Kids love it too! Thank you for the inspiration! =)
ReplyDeleteCarol
Thank you so much, Carol! I am so happy to hear that!!!! :) :) :)
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