We've moved. Please click here to view our new blog.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

CLEAN CLOUDS

The first time I saw this activity was actually in a photograph at a Reggio-inspired school where I was attending a conference.  We tried it at RLs house a few months ago, but my son was not interested that day.  For whatever reason, he is much more interested in activities when its just the two of us.  I named it clean clouds because that is what my son was calling it.  I have seen it several times and heard it called different names.  All you need is toilet paper, water, and a bar of Ivory soap  (sorry, I didn't do any measuring).  Its a great sensory experiment and if you add enough toilet paper (we used the whole roll) - you can mold it like dough.  My son particularly liked the smell and the way it "grew into a cloud" in the microwave.  I had 3 bars of soap and he wanted to microwave all three, so we did - it was his favorite part.

- AK (MESE, MECD)

 Water, toilet paper, Ivory soap
 opening the soap
 "It smells good...like clean things"
 microwave for one minute
 there was a little bar left, so we took off the first "cloud" and microwaved it for one more minute
 finished product
 tear the toilet paper and add it
pour in the water

 squish and squeeze and mold
 he wanted to add color, so he went to get his spray bottles of liquid watercolors
 adding color
 more squishy clean fun
he put it on the table to make a "mountain"

21 comments:

  1. Wow...impressed by the water color sprays!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We tried this today and I wish you'd measured because ours did NOT come out like that! lol And no matter how much extra water/tp I added I couldn't get it to look as good as yours did! My 4yo LOVED it but my 20mo wouldn't touch it. He didn't like the texture!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Next time try less water and more TP. I would actually start with 2C of water, then a whole roll of TP (and then add water if needed). - AK

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't understand what you've done with the ingredients at the betginning?

    ReplyDelete
  5. First you microwave the Ivory soap for 1 minutes....then we moved it to his sensory table, added about 2 cups of water and then tore up and added a roll of toilet paper. - AK

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have always loved this. We call it clean mud. And I usually cute the soap into thrids with a knive so i can have 3 to microwave. i microwave mine usually for around 45 secoonds. I usally already have 1 roll or toilet paper torn into pieces that i let the kids do or help with, and in the sensory table. and then I had the microwaved soap, then start adding the water. I usually use warm water and start with a cup and add more as I need. when mixing it starts to get fluffy but not really wet. then i stop. i think he amount of water depends on the toilet paper, 1 ply 2 ply etc make a difference. Have fun!! Thanks for reminding me we hadn't done this in a while.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Does "clean cloud" resemble Model Magic?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Is there another way to do this w.o nuking the soap? We don't have a microwave.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Can we substitute any other soap? We're all allergic to Ivory.

    ReplyDelete
  10. can you do this without a microwave? My daughter would love this!

    ReplyDelete
  11. i don't have a microwave just a countertop convection oven. can this be done without a microwave?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jessi - I dont think so....but Im not positive.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi
    I'm in Australia not sure what is ment by ivory soap. Can I use johnsons baby soap

    ReplyDelete
  14. Does your son know how to play without getting naked? that's kind of weird

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He always starts with clothes on, but most of the time they are stolen right off his body by our pet kangaroo. ;)

      Delete
    2. Kangaroos HATE being naked! :D

      Delete
  15. I have only tried this in the microwave, so Im not sure if it will work in the oven.

    ReplyDelete
  16. How long does the mixture stay moldable? I'd like to make it ahead of time at home since there's no microwave at church, where the kids are.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I found this recipe first on another blog that didn't say anything about using a microwave. Glad I found it there first since we don't have one.

    She just shredded the bars of soap, then added water that was warm enough to melt the soap. She used one roll of toilet paper to 3 bars of soap and didn't measure the water, but used several cups to get it to the desired texture.

    ReplyDelete