Get Your Hands Messy!

by Marie on March 28, 2007

Oobleck, the stuff kids dream about – getting messy. The name sounds fun, doesn’t it? I wrote earlier about Playdough, which is great, but Oobleck takes the cake. This substance is only made with 2 ingredients: water and cornstarch. Cornstarch is used in recipes to thicken sauces, but in Oobleck, it just never seems to make up it’s mind what it should do. Is it a liquid or a solid?

ooblick-oozeing.jpg

Recipe for Oobleck:

  • 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
  • 1 cup water
  • Optional: 2-3 drops of green food coloring (for an extra slimy mix)

supplies.jpg pour-cornstarch.JPG mix.JPG

Pour, mix slightly, and have fun!

You can pick it up, squeeze it, and it forms a ball in your hand. But let the ball lay in your hand and it turns back to liquid. When you look into the bowl, it looks like white milk. Then punch your hand into the bowl and it is hard and solid. I love this stuff.

scoop.JPG liquid.JPG squeeze.JPG solid.JPG punch.JPG

In a preschool class I worked at, I used this Oobleck recipe many times. I do recommend that it be played outside, as the oobleck gets all over, and have a wet rag or water bucket near by for clean up. Get a large bucket or tub, take it outside, get the kids ready with aprons or old t-shirts, fill the tub up with oobleck, (recipe will need to be multiplied to fill a large tub) and let them go. They can play in this stuff for hours. Have fun getting Ooey and Gooey with Oobleck!

Hand Model: Devin Neff (lovely niece). She is available for your photo needs.

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{ 1 trackback }

Make Oobleck on Halloween | homeschoolingcoach.com
10.29.08 at 9:55 pm

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Katrine 03.28.07 at 2:55 pm

Oh yeah, this is a big hit with boys of all ages! Including the daddy ones.

2 Heather D. White 03.28.07 at 2:56 pm

Oh wow..you’re a better mom than I am. Yuck. LOL!

3 Laurel 03.29.07 at 12:40 pm

I love this stuff – thanks for the recipe!

4 Ani 08.27.08 at 7:51 pm

I used to play with that all the time as a kiddie, ^.^ so fun!

5 catherine 09.10.08 at 6:25 pm

i always wanted to play with that kind of stuff but i never knew how to make oobleck!!!! i looks so cool!!

6 Oksana 10.04.08 at 4:11 pm

I made some for a polymer project for chemistry and some for my 2 brothers. They loved it :)

7 Manga 01.15.09 at 3:23 am

[...]Thanks for sharing your work with us! Your theme is just awesome![...]

8 Lori Z. 04.02.09 at 2:30 pm

I remember doing this one in second grade. I just read Bartholomew and the Oobleck a few weeks ago with my kids and was wondering about this recipe. Thanks!

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