Playing with water and cornflour is such a simple activity, just two parts corn flour to one part water, plus a bit of food colouring for fun and you are all set for a sensory adventure. It's all about the particles apparently. Cornflour has large particles which 'float' around in the water, the particles are close together but are still able to slip past each other. If you move the mixture slowly the particles have time to pass each other so it acts like a liquid, but if you move it quickly the water flows out of the area but the particles of corn flour don't have time to move away so it acts like a solid.
My toddler couldn't give two hoots about how and why cornflour and water act so strangely when mixed together but that didn't stop him from being completely captivated my it's magical properties.
This activity was by far the most engaging activity I have EVER done with my toddler, he was mesmerised by it and sat in his high chair for over half an hour playing (and I enjoyed it too!)
Honestly, so cheap and easy to do, the clean-up was easy because essentially it's just cornflour once the water dried up so I just hoovered it up off the carpet where it spilled and it wiped up a dream off the high chair, didn't take long at all.
