This oobleck stuff is AMAZING! Seriously the kids and I could have sat and watched this and played with it for hours!
Back in my college days when I was working in the preschool sector we called it GAK, have no idea where that came from lol! But whatever you want to call it, you have to give this sensory fun activity a try.
Easy As 1-2-3
It is so easy to make oobleck with only 2 ingredients (3 if you use colour)
- 1 Cup of Corn Starch/Cornflour
- 1/2 Cup of Water
- 3-4 Drops of Food Colour (optional)
Start by mixing the corn starch and water together. You can add a colour to the water before it goes into the corn starch. This just makes it a little easier to distribute the colour better. We chose to do two batches. One red (which went pink!) and one green.
When the water and corn starch are mixed together, you will see it looks very runny. Almost like it is too wet!
DON’T BE FOOLED! The corn starch adds as a thickening agent and binds the water as you are mixing.
When the magic happens!!
The oobleck will form into a hard ball in your hand. Then when you open your hand, this cool mixture will start to run almost as if it is melting right before your eyes!!
When you squeeze your hand tight again the oobleck mixture will form right back into a solid ball! AMAZING right?!
My kids poured their mixture onto a tray so that they could play around with it a bit easier and get a feel for what it does.
We found that when it starts to dry it goes a crumbly texture. Almost like soap if you break it into pieces. The kids used spoons as well as their hands to scoop it up.
We found that when we added small amounts of water, it would start to form into a liquid again. Not enough that it will stick to your hands, but yet makes it look like it is runny again.
And my son discovered that if your put your hand in the mixture and leave it there for 10 seconds, your hand starts to sink into it making it more difficult to pull your hand away.
The crazy part is that when you do pull your hand away it leaves a print in the mixture that quickly disappears. My kids described it to be like ‘quick sand’ lol! Very cool to watch.
Amazing Science!
The best part of making oobleck is that it really only takes 1 ingredient that you add water too! And there you have a science experiment for the kids. Kids love science and love to learn about different liquids, substances and how things react when they are mixed together.
Its also very cool to watch two different colours come together if you have them on a tray. ❤️
Oobleck?
Oobleck is a suspension, or a substance that can mimic the qualities of a solid or a liquid. How did Oobleck get its name? It came from a book by Dr. Seuss, called Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Oobleck is a mystery substance that fall from the sky. This may be a good book to purchase after doing this activity.
Sensory activites are fun. And especially when you mix science into it and make them yourself. Why not try this homemade Moon Sand recipe!
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