Learning through play: Gloop!
Keeping little ones busy is a challenge, especially when you want to make sure that they are learning at the same time. At First Steps Phonics, we want to support you by sharing free activities that will help your child to learn as they play. If you like this post, please like and share it. This will help us to learn what types of activity you find useful and we can write some more. Thank you!
Gloop is loads of fun! It also gives your child the opportunity to explore their creativity and learn as they play, developing their fine motor and mark making skills; these are the skills that children need in order to be able to hold a pencil and learn to write.
If you and your little one are taking part in our online sessions, you can also use gloop to practise writing our letter of the week in the gloop.
If you would like to try one of our online sessions for free, please click here
How to make Gloop
It’s really easy to make gloop. All you need is:
- A bowl or box
- Water (1 cup)
- Cornflour (2 cups)
- Food colouring (optional)
Your child will enjoy the process of making the gloop as well as playing with it afterwards. Try doing the following:
- Tip the cornfour into the box or bowl
- Add a few drops of food colouring (optional)
- Mix in the water
- Slowly mix in more cornflour or water to change the consistency
It takes time to completely mix the ingredients together. Let your child play with the mixture whilst this happens. Encourage them to explore the different textures as they mix. Try asking them ‘What does it feels like?‘ ‘Does it change as you keep mixing?’
Learning through Gloop
Once your gloop is ready, the opportunities are endless. Why not try some of the following ideas:
- Encourage your child to draw patterns and pictures in the gloop. This is called ‘Mark Making‘ and is an important skill.
- Can they pick the gloop up?
- What happens if they poke the gloop quickly?
- What happens if they poke the gloop slowly?
- Can they write the letter of the week in the gloop?
- Can they make the gloop run between their fingers?
The gloop mixture has a fascinating property; it behaves as both a solid and a liquid depending on what you do with it. Trying squashing the gloop. Try letting it run through your fingers. If your child is older, you could use talk about solids and liquids with them and explore the features of each.
Have fun!
How can we support you?
At First Steps Phonics, we are passionate about supporting you by introducing simple, fun activities that you can use with your child. The activities we suggest help your child to learn as they play, developing key skills that will help them to be better prepared for school. We are currently running daily online sessions. The sessions engage and educate your child, whilst introducing you to Phonics, the technique used by schools to teach reading. If you sign up, each weekday, you will receive an engaging video to watch with your chid and free follow-up activities that you can easily do at home to develop their learning. Click here to sign up today!
If you would like to try one of our online sessions for free, please click here