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May 28, 2018 by Jenae - 21 Comments
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.

Oobleck Recipe: Liquid or Solid?

What is Oobleck?

If you’ve never had any experience with Cornstarch Slime or Goop (or what I call Oobleck from Dr. Seuss’ book Bartholomew and the Oobleck), it is really strange. If you move slowly or hold it still, it behaves like a liquid. But if you quickly agitate it or attempt to roll it up, it behaves like a solid!

oobleck recipe

 

This science experiment certainly isn’t a new one…

In fact, you might have already done this science activity with your kids! It is a great sensory experience for little kids and a way to talk about matter (liquids, solids, and gases) with older kids!

The science info (at the bottom of the post) comes from Kitchen Pantry Scientist and Steve Spangler Science!

Oobleck Recipe

Supplies:

Here’s what you’ll need:  cornstarch, water, and a large bowl.

Optional:  food coloring.

How To Make Oobleck

 

oobleck

 1. Mix 1 cup of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of water. It should be the consistency of syrup. Add food coloring if you choose. I opted to leave this out to make the clean-up a little easier (and preserve the boys’ clothing).

 

oobleck recipe

 2. Encourage your child to put his/her hands in the bowl and begin playing. Big Brother was excited, at first…

 

oobleck experiment

 …the texture took some getting used to. After a few minutes, he really enjoyed it.

 

homemade goop

 

Is Oobleck a solid or a liquid?

Cornstarch, the main ingredient of Goop or Oobleck is made up of long chains of atoms.  When you move them slowly past one another, they flow like a liquid because they can slide easily past each other.  When you squeeze, roll, or agitate them, the “atom chains” will get entangled and form a solid! 

Substances like Oobleck are referred to as “non-Newtonian fluids” because they do not have the normal properties of either solids or liquids.

This post was first published May 2012. Updated 2018.

Click here for more fun science activities for kids:

Science Experiments For Kids

Bouncy Egg Experiment

How To Make A Homemade Lava Lamp

Ice Cream In A Bag Experiment

What Is Blood Made Of?

Rain Cloud In A Jar Weather Activity

 

Download your free Science eBook with this experiment and 14 others by clicking below and entering your e-mail address.

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jess says

    May 28, 2012 at 10:16 am

    I love this experiment, and it’s fun to read Dr. Seuss’ book along with it :) We did this same thing with our homeschooling group this year!

    Reply
  2. samantha says

    May 28, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    Did this with food coloring and a combination of baking soda and corn starch and playing with it in the drive way and made a big fun mess and then when it dried we sprayed it with vinegar and watched it fizz

    Reply
  3. Debi says

    May 29, 2012 at 7:26 am

    what timing. We just read Bartholomew and the Ooblek last night. Now we can have fun making ooblek today. Can’t wait to try this.

    Reply
  4. Forgetful Mom says

    May 29, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    I love how simple this is and how much my girls both love it!

    Reply
  5. Sarah says

    May 29, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    I just tried this today. My almost 2 year old LOVED it. She played with it for over 45 minutes! I had fun with it too. And clean-up was pretty easy too.

    Reply
  6. Kristin says

    May 30, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    Thanks for this idea. I just requested the book through the library. I can’t wait to read it and then try this experiment.

    Reply
  7. Jennifer Eagles says

    February 25, 2014 at 7:52 pm

    My daughter LOVES science and she is only in kindergarten – I can’t wait to do some fun experiments with her over the March Break!! :) Thank yo so much!

    Reply
  8. Lel says

    December 17, 2014 at 8:52 pm

    I am excited to get this science ebook!

    Reply
    • Jenae says

      December 18, 2014 at 2:40 pm

      Did you access it okay? I have had some people say that they aren’t receiving the second e-mail. If you have any problems, leave a comment or email me at [email protected]. :)

      Reply
  9. Holly says

    January 13, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    Thank you so much for this!!! I teach kindergarten, and every other week we combine with First grade to do a science experiment! The kids LOVED this and were able to record lots of different observations in their science journals!! (Such easy prep too!!!)

    Reply
    • Jenae says

      January 13, 2015 at 8:49 pm

      Thanks Holly! So glad that you and your students enjoyed this activity!

      Reply
  10. Jeannie Friesen says

    April 19, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    Can wait to try this with my Kindergarteners!

    Reply
    • Jenae says

      April 21, 2015 at 2:36 pm

      Thanks Jeannie! Let us know how it goes! :)

      Reply
  11. Teri says

    November 1, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    Looking for link to science experiments!

    Reply
  12. Karen Johnson says

    February 25, 2018 at 8:52 am

    Thank you!

    Reply
  13. Alfred says

    November 22, 2018 at 9:47 pm

    It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! By the way, how can we communicate?

    Reply

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