How to Make: Icky Sticky Irish Soup

So maybe it’s not quite Stobhach (a traditional Irish stew) but your kids will fall in love with this addictive sensory play idea that’s quick and easy to make! 

What you’ll need:

◦ Cornstarch

◦ Water

◦ Dye

And that’s it! You can choose to add your own little touch to the mix. If you have any fake potatoes, carrots or beef add them in for a more authentic Irish stew or perhaps add some gold in to entice any sneaky Leprechauns about on St Patrick’s Day (your kids will love that!)

To make the soup:

◦ Simply add the amount of cornstarch you want into your choice of container.

◦ If you want the soup to be coloured you’ll have to add food colouring (only a little! the more dye the more potential for stains) to the water before you pour it in with the cornstarch.

◦ Add the water, you want to try and add an equal amount of water to cornstarch ratio to create the right affect (it should appear solid when still).

◦ You may have to finesse your mixture by adding more cornstarch or water but you SHOULD have a mixture that appears solid in stasis but becomes like slime on touch and movement. 

And that’s it! You have your soup. While it is messy to play with it is easy to clean up, simply just use water or damp cloths and the cornstarch stuck on hands or any surfaces should wash away. 

For dyed soup make sure to use warm soapy water to help wash away any food dye. 

To further enhance your play setup, we like to create an environment with decorations or added sensory stimulation. See our example above and below where we’ve used lentils from the cupboard, leaves from our backyard and cut some clovers from green paper.