Moon sand madness

So, there's this stuff out called moon sand. It gets mixed reviews. Apparently, there are kids everywhere ending up in hospitals with crazy rashes from the stuff. Or there isn't. And its a faaabulous toy. Or, its a hellish mess. We've cleverly avoided it and opted for the beach instead... until I saw a homemade version on a homeschooling group. P was pumped.

We had a partial bag of cactus sand, some cornstarch, cream of tartar and, of course, peppermint oil to protect the little man's sensitive schnoz. Add some water and you have... a huge mess of fun.

The cornstarch and tartar gave the sand a wonderfully sproingy quality and gelled it all together. We poured it onto P's work table and he went to town. There were dinosaur footprints to be made, slicing to be done, pouring, molding into shapes. It was quiet and fun and completely absorbed the little man.

Then BB had to get in on the fun. He was buried. Deeply and repeatedly. To the sound of cackling :)



As the hours passed (yes, hours :) the wood absorbed much of the water, leaving the goo crumbly. So we pulverized and pummeled until we had cornstarch covered sand.



And let me tell you, the little man hit Nirvana at that moment. His adoration of flour play (that tactile sensation of smoothness) was combined with his love of sand/dirt play in one fell swoop. He snowed on BB's head and raced trains through the snow filled wonderland.




The clean up was fabulous compared to flour play and I thought we'd hit the jack-pot. But after a few days of sideways sprinkles and occasional accidents the little man fell into a frenzy mid play. He had just created quick sand (by adding more cornstarch mixed water)



and watched people sink to the sandy depths when his hands, seemingly innocently, shook the sand Hard to get free. Oooo! There it flew - through the air. Before you could say Whoah! it was flinging Everywhere while he shrieked with four year old delight :) Once the snow storm passed, I was pleased to find that the cleaning was simple... and the moon sand less numerous ;)