Making Oobleck

Oobleck is a mixture of cornflour and water. Sounds simple, sounds like it could be boring? It is anything but boring!! Is it a liquid? Is it a solid? It’s both and neither. It has to be felt to be understood.

MIX IT UP

Making oobleck is simple - mix cornflour (MUST be cornflour, it only works with corn flour) with some water. I know some people like exact quantities for children’s activities! I like to let the children discover the quantities for themselves. I know this can be messy, but it can also fuel imagination. Not having set guidelines can lead to the excitement of discovery and the playful nature of learning something new. A bag of cornflour costs around $1.50, so it’s a cheap family experience.

I would suggest you mix it slowly and start with small quantities of water. One packet of cornflour should be enough to amuse a few children.

TAKE IT OUTSIDE

As is always my preferred environment for play, take it outside. Set the children up in a shady spot where clean-up will be achieved with a quick hose down of the area.

Use a container and your hands to do the mixing. You can start by mixing with a spoon, but the full experience requires hands to squeeze, pull, dig and hold the oobleck (until it changes state and oozes out of your hands that is!)

VARIATIONS

Some people like to add food colouring to make it more colourful. Getting stained hands always bothers me a bit so I like the plain version. You do what you like though! There are more natural food colourings available these days if you prefer to use these.

Mix it with a little bit of mud, or use it as “icing” for a mud cake. Add leaves, grass. flowers or other “decorations”. If there is too much water or too much mud, the mixture will start to behave differently…but have fun discovering what this looks like. Young children don’t seem to mind how it works out, they just like being part of the exploration and the fun.

Good luck with your oobleck adventures! When you’ve finished, simply wash any excess cornflour away with water.

Do note that I would not advise eating the oobleck, but we all know a small person who would try it anyway!! It would not taste great, but it IS a food and won’t cause any problems if small amounts are consumed.