Year 1 Crazy Custard

As part of Science Week, Year 1 have had great (and messy) fun exploring custard!

The children were asked the question 'Can you hold custard?'

These are some of the ideas the children suggested:

'No - it would run through your fingers'

'No because it would spill'

'You could make a cup with your hands but it would still leak out'

We also tried to predict what would happen when I hit the bowl of custard with my spoon. 

'It will splash you'

'You will get messy'

'It will go everywhere'

The class were amazed when they saw me hit the custard really hard and there was no splash and also when I could hold it in my hands like a ball! What was happening? 

To investigate further the children had to get hands on (or in) and find out for themselves...

We mixed the powder and the water.

We really enjoyed playing with the mixture and was amazed at what happened.

You could hold it in your hands! 

If you stopped moving your hands it slowly dripped back into the bowl.

 It was very hard to stir it.

When we stopped mixing, it went all runny again.

It didn't splash!

If you poured some on your hands it stayed there and didn't drip off.

After a quick tidy up, we spoke about what surprised us. 

' I was surprised that it didn't splash when you hit it'

'When I could hold it and then it looked like it melted when I stopped moving my hands'

'That when you drop it on the table you can watch it turn gooey'

'You can pick it up when you spill it'

We also spoke about liquids and solids and what was happening. The custard powder or corn flour doesn't mix with the water. The little bits (particles) move around in the water but we can't see them as they are so tiny.

We imagined we were all particles in the custard mixture. 

When we had lots of space we could move around easily. This is what is happening when we let the custard run through our fingers.

When we are squashed together, it was very difficult to move. This is what was happening when we held the mixture tight or tried to hit it with our spoons.

The children really enjoyed their investigation and made some great observations and comments afterwards.

Please note if you want to try this at home it needs to be custard powder or corn flour ...the nice stuff you get ready made will not work. You just mix the powder with a little bit of water and have fun!

(Apologies in advance for any messy puddings!)