making oobleck to celebrate Dr. Seuss's Birthday today.
![180px-bartholomew_and_the_oobleck.jpg](<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IB2OS6?ie=UTF8&tag=sktomylo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001IB2OS6"><img border="0" src="51Zd5LXAv4L._SL160_.jpg"></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=sktomylo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001IB2OS6" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />)
This stuff is amazing. My boys (okay and me too) were totally taken with this goo. Oobleck defies Newton's third law of motion--for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you quickly smack oobleck with your hand it immediately turns into a solid, instead of splashing or moving. If you slowly move oobleck it reacts like a liquid. Needless to say our oobleck took a lot of fist smacking! Our kitchen was filled with lots of "Wow," "Cool," wide eyes of amazement and much laughter!"
To make your own mix 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup water in a bowl. If you want to color your oobleck like we did, add a few drops of food coloring to the water before adding to the cornstarch. It took some effort to mix the water and cornstarch. Try it out (hit it with your fist and pour it off a spoon to see if it works) before you give into the urge to add more water to make it easier to mix. When the kids weren't playing with it I covered it with plastic wrap.
Too Cool! Really, you must give it a try!
Thanks for taking the time to visit me today!
We love that stuff at our house. The first time I made it, I added too much fod coloring, and our hands were blue for quite a while.
That is so neat. Thanks!
ahhhhhh…
this has been a favorite at our house as well…
we once made a huge batch of it outside
in our sand and water table
and just let the kids go…
great fun…
no way!! I have an ancient childhood memory of seeing this on some kid’s science show. I was just telling my husband about it about 2 weeks ago – how there was this amzing liquid that was solid when you hit it!! I never knew what the stuff was made of (and never thought to look it up).
Just being a nerd – the adjective to describe the way the cornstarch mix is behaving is “thixotropic”
Love the website by the way. I’m a knitter (in the UK), getting back into sewing, and have been looking at some fab ideas on blogs! I’ve bookmarked yours!!!!
Excellent! This is neat-o. Thank you so much for putting this up. I am going to measure out 1/2 portions, with directions, and give them to my daughter’s pre-school class for St. Patrick’s Day. A cool alternative to candy!
I love making this with kids! We add dinosaurs and other toys that don’t have moving parts and pretend that they are in a swamp or quick sand. You can put it in plastic shoe box or something with a little more room.
Thanks for the recipe. 3 drops of red food coloring is plenty to make the substance pink (my daughter’s FAVORITE color).
I had a blast with it!!!
THIS WAS ONE OF THE CRAFTS MYMOM TAUGHT ME OVER 13 YRS AGO, ITS A SURE WAY TO INTEREST KIDS.
My daughter is having her first sleepover for her birthday. She will be turning 9 years old)My daughter is having 10 girls over(not including her and her sister) The theme is Hello Kitty. The times will be from fri. 6pm – 10am sat.
Am I crazy to have agreed to this . I have no ideas and I am usually very creative. I am an artist and I was an art teacher. I love kids but I do not know how to fill the time or make it fun.
My daughter is like Martha Stewart Jr. she thinks she has all the plans . I need some good sleepover/Hello Kitty ideas. Do you have any?
Heather Doub
i can’t wait to see my kids face when she trys this
[...] make oobleck and a spaceship that will land in it,” I say to Hanna. “Cool, I love oobleck!” she replies. I [...]
That thing is awsome the first time i did it was at school two days before Dr. Seuss’s B-day.Everybody asked for the recipe.
I LOVE this stuff. I can’t decide on what color to make it… Pink, or orange? Or blue? Maybe green… Turquoise? *shrugs* Purple. Hmmm… I think I’ll do purple. That sounds fine. Nah, I’ll just ask my sister which one to do.
I used to make this in my daycare class. I loved it because it was an activity that I could combine with a book, therefore making reading come alive. The other neat thing that I saw, was a scientist or product reviewer on a talk show, who made an entire batch of this stuff (enough to fill the bath tub that they created it in). They allowed several audience members to run across the substance. They were “walking on water”.
[...] is fun Jump to Comments I found this post and decided it was too easy not to try! 2 cups cornstarch and 1 cup water with a little food [...]
Here is something really cool and fun- take an old speaker (the huge kind) and pull the cover off so the little funnel is visible. cover securely with plastic wrap (not tightly, just completely) secure with duct tape. NOw plug it in to your stereo, lay it flat on it’s back, and fill the little funnel with oobleck. Turn the music on (something with a lot of bass) and watch your oobleck dance!
Valarie
[...] Oh the places you will go….. – another one from Skip to My Lou. This is one of the many things listed in the sidebar. It is suppose to be a fun craft to make with the kids for Dr. Suess’s Birthday, but this recipe for ooeey gooeey slime is PERFECT for Halloween! The little man and I may just be making some up as you are reading this! [...]
OK, So we made this stuff to play with before Halloween. My entire kitchen is a total wreck. We played with it so long I had to start spritzing it with water! We had the best time!
Just made this not too long ago, I added another dash of water, and it worked super.
This is so awesome! I mean like I already knew how to make it but i just wanted to read it & make it at home!
[...] How to make Oobleck [...]
[...] If children will be attending and you are having an adult keep them entertained. Reading them Bartholomew and the Oobleck. You could make ahead or have them make their own Oobleck to take home! Or just a small bit to pass around while the story is being read. For instructions go here. [...]
[...] How to make Oobleck [...]
[...] How to make Oobleck [...]
[...] How to make Oobleck [...]
[...] made Oobleck-that we found on this site. (It is an old post of theirs but they also have lots of other great crafting ideas too.) All you [...]
Oobleck is only one of the names for this crazy stuff. When I taught Preschool, I would make this with my class again and again. We called it MAGIC MUD. I would send the receipe home so that the parents could make it and the best part was that if it got on the carpet or clothes, you just let it dry completely and then sweep/vacuum or throw in the washer. I also used this with the very little ones ( 1-2 yr olds) since it was safe for them to put in their mouths.
It is also called QUICKSAND and all you do is make it a tad thinner and then do a lesson around how quicksand works in real life.
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
[...] Oobleck [...]
[...] How to make Oobleck [...]
Oh my gosh! I saw this and had to run to the kitchen to make it! We have no kids, but it did entertain my husband and I! Thanks!
There’s no end to the amazement on this site…I rec’d a copy of Dr. Suess’s Bartholmew and the Oobleck for Christmas 1960, it was among my favorites and glad to know someone else remembers it.
[...] http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/03/02/oh-the-places-you-will-go/ [...]
How could I have forgotten about Oobleck!?! I can’t wait to make this! My 4 year old is going to have so much fun! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Yesterday we celebrated Dr Seuss’s birthday ( a few days late) with the residents( I am an Activity Director at a nursing home)- I had some kids come in to read Dr Seuss books to the residents. I read bartholomew and the oobleck and when I got to the part about the magicians I started mixing up the oobleck- I stole a hair from one of the boy’s chins and shook my stocking foot over the bowl and mixed it with my hands- the residents and the kidlets were making all the fun noises “eeew, gross, can I touch it?” I scooped some oobleck into small containers so the kidlets could take it home. Thank you for the recipe, it was so much fun! It was even easy to clean up- just waited til it dried and it wiped up fine!