What to do with the insides of your carved pumpkin? How about making some Pumpkin Gloop, ideal for oodles of sensory play.
After I cut around the top, Minnie removed the lid & discovered the contents! Her hands were soon in the pumpkin scooping out the seeds.
We love playing with gloop (oobleck) & these seeds just seemed a perfect accompaniment for some seasonal gloopy messy play!
We added a packet of cornflour to a large shallow plastic box, which works really well for indoor messy play. The mess is contained but it still offers lots of room for exploration & play. I would recommend covering your floor if it's carpeted... the gloop does have a tendency to spread.
The cornflour provided some great sensory exploration even before the water was added
We mixed a few drops of yellow & red liquid food colouring to cold water to create a orange-ish pumpkin colour, & added the liquid to the cornflour a little at a time.
Minnie mixed until the cornflour & water were combined & the mixture thickened. (Take care not to add to much water or the mixture will become too runny & won't have that 'magic' gloop quality!)
Our pumpkin gloop was ready to explore...
Minnie wanted to 'cook' with the gloop, so we added a whisk, but she soon discovered it was impossible to use as the mixture became firm when pressure was applied. She added a variety of spoons & a spatula which provided great tools for mark making.
After more mixing, Minnie excitedly told me that she had made 'pumpkin soup' - yummy!
But gloop like this just has to be explored with your hands...
We found the gloop became runny as the pulp was mixed in, so added a little more cornflour to the mixture to return it to its original consistency.
Soon pots, plates, forks & a mini frying pan (!) were added to the play, & Minnie was making 'pumpkin soup' for all her toys, followed by pumpkin pancakes. Thank goodness she didn't want to flip them!
