Oobleck (AKA Goo)

Goo is so fun to make! To make Oobleck you need cornstarch and water, food colouring is optional. You also need a bowl to mix it in. A 16 ounce box of cornstarch is enough for 2-3 servings. We used about 8 ounces, but I eyeballed it. I added liquid food colouring to the water before I mixed the cornstarch in. This is the part where you can add as much water as you want, but the goal is that you want it to move fluidly like a liquid but feel and act like a solid. The basic ratio is 1/2 cup water for every 1 cup of cornstarch. We used extra water last time, so we used less water this time.
This is an interesting science experiment for older kids, but my kids just enjoyed getting their hands dirty :)

Bean stirred with a spoon until the cornstarch was all mixed in and then started using her hands to explore the weird texture. 

Then we left the blue batch in the bowl and poured the pink batch onto a plate. The blue batch had a normal water to cornstarch ratio, the pink batch had less water in it, to see how different they were. 

Bean decided to add ducks to her pink "pond" :) She was amazed that some slid around by themselves, while others stayed where they were. 

Then Bean poured some of the blue goo onto the plate... because she always mixes colours... but this time the colours didn't blend together! They stayed separate despite her best efforts to mix them. 

Munchkin kept tipping the bowl over to try and dump it out, but the goo refused to leave its bowl. So instead he kept tipping it to watch it slide down and would feel the bumpy grooves it made. 

They were amazed that it looked wet but didn't feel wet. 

And it stores up easily. We saved it to play with later that day but I wouldn't recommend keeping it for too long. I don't know how long it would stay good for. Just don't pour it down the drain! Either throw it in the trash or dump it in the garden or compost bin (after all it is just cornstarch and water).

Oobleck is easy to clean up too. Soap and water will get rid of it on hands or surfaces. We found out that when it dripped on the coffee table and floor that it "dried" up and could be picked up and added back to the bowl. The best part was watching the fallen pieces ooze back into the mother batch. It completely amazed Munchkin and Bean :)

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