Dinosaur Small World with Oobleck

We saw an amazing dinosaur small world over at Fun At Home With Kids and were inspired to make our own. I loved the idea of using oobleck! Normally we just use sand and grass or rice and beans for our dinosaur worlds, but oobleck really brought this small world to life! 

We read recently in one of our many dinosaur books that sometimes dinosaurs would get stuck in muddy river banks and not be able to get out. Then, millions of years later, paleontologists would find them. We pretended that today was such a day (although these dinosaurs enjoyed a nice bath afterwards).

To make Oobleck you need cornstarch and water. We added a small amount of food colouring to make it an off-white colour. We used 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup of water. We used a glass baking pan that fit nicely in our plastic bin. We layered newspaper in the bottom of the bin in case any spilled out (which was bound to happen) and put our dinosaur mat on top of them. We added a couple trees and rocks and then Munchkin and Bean began exploring the oobleck and sticking dinosaurs in it. 

Bean had a lot of fun with this stegosaurus. She kept sticking him into the mud and making him trudge through it. She liked that it was a challenge for him to get back out. 

Munchkin put all the baby dinosaurs in and Bean said they were sleeping. 

Then she dunked the trees in and watched them drip. Before this part we had managed to keep the oobleck contained. Afterwards, the oobleck was everywhere :) (If you wait for it to dry, it comes right off. Otherwise, soap and water will do the job.)

Then the mountain exploded! Oobleck made fantastic lava :)

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