“Mama, can I make an experiment?”

Annalie asks me that question at least once a week. It all goes back to the day we made her 3rd birthday cake. After she helped me measure the ingredients and the batter was poured in the pans and the cake was baking, she wanted to do more. More more MORE!

I didn’t have any more cakes to make, but I had a bright idea. “I know, you can do an experiment!” I gave her flour and water in measuring cups, a bowl and a spoon. She mixed those together, then asked for milk. I suggested ketchup instead, and she thought that was a good idea. She stirred the concoction for a while, then decided she needed to use her hands.

She gleefully dug her hands into the goop, then pulled them out again for a closer inspection. That time her ingredients had included a lot of flour and not much water, so it was more like a sticky pizza dough than anything. It was a sticky mess, but I actually loved seeing her go for it.

I was always something of a prissy kid, not wanting to get myself dirty. When I got older and went to summer camp, I hated for anyone to think I was a wuss. I learned to silently endure scratchy grasshoppers colliding with my legs as I walked through tall grass and spiderwebs and algae in the lake. Eventually I realized it wasn’t going to kill me to get a little muddy or slimy. That’s what soap and water are for, after all.

In much the same way that I rejoice that Annalie loves all kinds of food, I also am happy that she doesn’t mind getting mucked up in the name of discovery or having a bit of fun.

The other day Annalie made an experiment with flour, water, salt, and pink food coloring. She added a bit of this, then stirred, added a bit more of this and a little of that, stirred some more, for a good half-hour. She ended the experiment session with the traditional hands-in-the-goop. When she’d tired of that she wandered to the bathroom to wash her hands while I took a rag to the drips to prevent me from having to chip away at them with a chisel later.

While wiping the table off, I realized that this particular goop was very similar to the homemade puffy paint we made last summer. It wouldn’t hurt to try painting with it. Annalie went down to the garage art studio to find the wooden craft sticks to use as paintbrushes. I grabbed a handy piece of cardboard and got Annalie a sheet of aluminum foil.

Thinking of Valentine’s Day, I painted a heart and some decorative swirls and stars. Annalie, remembering my mom’s story about making her own paste from flour and water when she was a little girl, went with a more structural piece involving many craft sticks and a few toothpicks as well.

When we made puffy paint last summer, we hadn’t unpacked the food coloring yet so we added glitter instead. I think the colored puffy paint is much prettier than the natural-colored stuff. Also, I don’t know if our ratio of flour to water to salt was different this time or what, but it seemed easier to work with. I sprinkled extra salt on top of my painting, thinking that might make it a bit sparkly and help it dry faster. It was fun, and nice to use the goop for an additional half-hour’s entertainment instead of just washing it down the sink.

I love it when science and art collide.