Seriously! There is a fabulous give away, grand prize is a trip for 4 to New York City. So break out the flour and eggs and start making a mess! All you have to do is post a picture of your own kitchen escapades on
The Clorox Cook Up A Mess Facebook Page and come back to vote!
The entries can only be submitted until March 29th, so Get Mess Making!!!
That, or find a disastrous photo from a while back and submit that, but definitely plan a mess for the near future. There is fun to be had.
I love the campaign to Cook Up A Mess! Over at the
Clorox Facebook page they have ideas to get you started. You will find lists of materials to have handy according to age group, tips for making creative play safe and easy, plus ideas for activities you can do at different times during the year. With spring in waiting for so many of you around the country, run on over there and check out some new ideas of things to do while waiting for the world to warm :0)
If you have visited my blog often you know that I am not afraid of mess. In fact, I believe it the right of children everywhere to dig in up to their elbows in mess, all in the name of creative play. That is why we chose to make what our family lovingly calls "Goopy Stuff" for you today. Sit back and we will show you how to make it...
Start out with 1 1/2 cups warm water.
Our first helper was Chase. Madison wasn't quite sure about letting the 2 year olds do things themselves :0)
I told her everything would be OK-our floors had seen worse things than water!
Then add 4 bottles of school glue to the bowl.
This step went over really well :0) What kid doesn't dream of emptying an entire bottle of something!?!
Everybody got to dump their own bottle. Luckily, there were enough bottles to go around.
Pay no mind to the brand of the glue you use. They all work!
While the kids are at it, throw some food coloring in the bowl too. I would recommend staying away from red-YUCK, and really staying away from green or brown-Double YUCK, YUCK!!!
Your goopy stuff will resemble a little to closely familiar goop you won't want your kids playing with :0)
Here was our first "Mess" casualty. I didn't ask her to show me, that was how she held her arm when she realized it was dirty. Funny how my own children have no problem getting dirty. This is Kylie. She is less than OK with yuck :0) Poor girl. You picked the wrong day
to come play at the Sew*CakeMaker house!
Emmers was having a BLAST!
I am so loven' that grin. Can you believe we got paid to play !?!
Now give the bowl a stir. Chas-ie (our nickname for the poor boy) didn't stop stirring his whole turn, not even for this picture :0)
Kylie...not so much a stirrer.
Emmers finished it up with her turn. Now for the next bowl...
Add 1 1/3 c. warm water to a new bowl.
Pour like a champ...
Now take turns dumping 4 tsp. of laundry booster into the bowl of water.
Good Job Chase! Emmalee was quite impressed with his level of skill and the form of his arm as he dumped his scoop of powder into the bowl :0) Way to Go!
Kylie liked the laundry booster. She must have known it originated with a need for CLEAN!
Give the bowl a good stir...
Now you have two bowls that look very different. Pour the soap bowl into the glue bowl.
If you do it the other way around, glue bowl into the soap bowl, you loose a lot of glue. We didn't worry about loosing soap since I think we ended up 8 tsp. after the toddlers snuck in a couple scoops when I wasn't looking :0)
Now give that a stir. You will get goop that looks a something like this...
How GROSS AWESOME is that!?!
Can you get a sense of why you don't want green, red or brown?
We usually go for blue or purple around here.
You can stir the two liquids together with a spoon, but why when you can use your hands!!!
Slosh the goop between your fingers until it has soaked up most of the water and is stretchy and solid.
This stuff is so wiggly jiggly you really can't help but laugh.
If you build a snowman out of it (about the only kind we can make in Phoenix, Arizona), it will stand for a second, then melt down into a puddle on the table. Hey, that *is* like a snowman in Phoenix, Arizona!
The Goopy Stuff is also very bouncy so beware of balls being chucked across the kitchen.
I guess that would be OK since we are out to make a mess today!
Squish, squirt, squish, squirt...
Um, we may have made Kylie feel a little uncomfortable...
but everyone else had a BLAST!!!
I guess mess-making isn't for everyone.
Eli was even able to use the goop for a little anger management.
We hadn't made a big enough mess so we really just had to dump the bowl out on the counter for a little more um.."Creative Play" :0)
After all that fun it was lunch time. We plucked the toddlers from the goop one at a time for a scrub down.
This was what we had left...
I plopped the goop into an airtight bag so we could use it another day. After that I set about cleaning up...
OK, Madison set about the clean up while I took pictures :0)
Actually, I have been mixing vinegar and water to clean my counters for a while now. Sadly, I was astonished at how much cleaner my counter felt after a wipe-down with Clorox Clean-Up! I didn't start out on this adventure to change minds or advertise, but in the end, I have sold Clorox Clean-Up to myself! Besides that, I have no doubt that Clorox Clean-Up gets rid of all the bacteria and viruses that lurk on kitchen counters like these. Also, in my typical way, I forgot to take a photo first, but I sprayed Clorox Clean-Up on a stain I had on the counter. That stain has been there the whole three years we have lived here. I usually put my fruit bowl over the top because I never could get the stain out. Guess what!?! I sprayed Clorox Clean-Up on the stain and walked away. When I came by a few minutes later, the stain was gone!!! I am so not kidding! It was huge too. About the size of my arm :0) Not any more, Gone!!!
So, thanks to Clorox Clean-Up and TheMotherhood.com for sponsoring our activity today. We had a total blast. Lets ask the kids...
Who here liked our Cooking Up A Mess in the Kitchen today ?!?
That is one Hip Hip Hooray!!!
Two Hip Hip Hoorays!!!
One less-than satisfied customer...
And Hip Hip Hooray number 3!!!
AAAAAhhhhCHOOoo!!!
Oh, bless you Eli :0)
Now, if only I could spray the Clorox Clean-Up in here. Do you like the "Cooking Up A Mess" that happened in the play kitchen while I was making lunch?
Come on Clorox! It's time to talk to Research and Development!
Don't forget to come back this weekend when our rubber eggs will be ready...
I changed the vinegar today and was shocked at the color. Yes, these were regular white eggs 4 days ago. I guess that is what a 4 day vinegar bath can do to a guy :0)
Also, take a minute to check out the online resources Clorox has posted on their Facebook page to help parents get creative with their kids. Here is a little of what you will find...
- Creative Home Index – Online quiz to gauge your home’s Messy Magnitude
- Messy Must-Haves – Facts and tips on how to maintain a creative environment at home
- Seasonal Messy Play Newsletters – Downloadable newsletters with ideas and recipes for new seasonal activities
- 365 Days of Mess – Downloadable calendar of activities to keep kids “messy" year-round
Don't forget to
post your Messy Kids In The Kitchen photo at the Cook Up A Mess with Clorox Clean-Up Facebook page by March 29th!!!! You will have a blast making memories with your kids, plus...
Your hotel room in New York is waiting :0)