Of mud and goop

Mud

We manage to negotiate Play Session this week without The Big Fella cutting off this toe with a shovel in the mud pit. He's the only child who refuses to wear the safety boots provided for mud play.

“I don’t want boots,” he declares, stepping out of the boots I have just struggled to put on him. To reinforce his point, he slams the shovel into the ground, narrowly missing his toes and making a strong pro-boot case.

Luckily the student who is running the mud pit is prepared to turn a blind eye to this OH&S breach.

I decide to distract him by suggesting we instead play at the nearby water table, where his bare feet will be a bonus. It works, and off we march to get his clothes wet and keep his toes intact.

Goop

Next stop is the goop table. Goop is terrific stuff, especially if someone else makes it for you and cleans up afterwards. 

Goop is slime made from cornflour, water and food colouring (green of course!). As you sink your hands in, it almost feels firm enough to pick up - until you try and it turns to liquid and runs through your fingers. A bit like life, really.

Goop is a big hit with both boys. The Big Fella wins the in-house competition for the person who can get the most goop on his clothes. 

His clothes are so crusty he can barely move. Goop is crusting on top of mud from the mud pit. The mud is coated with sand from the sandpit.

Speaking as the person who washes our clothes and who only yesterday cleaned our car inside and out, this is not terrific news.

But the boys had fun, which is the main thing.