Oobleck, what is it and how to make oobleck for kids. Kids love oobleck. I only recently heard about oobleck when my daughters were bored at home during lockdown one day and wanted to make something crafty. I’m not a crafty mum and having failed numerous times at making slime or playdough, I wasn’t convinced.
Eventually, a combination of boredom and their nagging wearing me down, plus some encouragement from my friend who promised that it was easy to do, I caved. So we made Oobleck at home, and you know what? It wasn’t awful, and of all the crafty failures we’ve done, to have one success was awesome!
Oobleck has to be one of the easiest things to make and is also one of the easiest crafts to clean too. Having seen how easy it is to make oobleck, what it is, and how much the kids love it, if I had to choose between slime vs Oobleck, I’d choose oobleck every time!
So what is Oobleck?
Oobleck, is simply a mixture of cornflour and water. It’s 2 parts cornflour to 1 part water, and you can add food colouring to give it a specific colour.
Oobleck is both a solid and a liquid. You can hit it like a solid, but then it’s also a liquid that you can submerge your hands in.
Scientifically oobleck is a non-newtonian fluid that does not follow newton’s law of viscosity meaning that the viscosity of the liquid can change when under force to either more liquid or more solid. Crazy!
If you’re not sure what I mean, here’s a video we made to show you what it is.
How To Make Oobleck
Making Oobleck is so simple to make. It has two ingredients and can be made in a few minutes.
Ingredients for Oobleck
- Water
- Cornflour or cornstarch
- Food colouring (optional)
How to make oobleck: Now you simply mix the cornflour to the water in a 2:1 ratio so 2 cups of water to 1 cup of cornflour/cornstarch .
I would recommend you use at least 2 cups of cornflour so mix that up with 4 cups of water.
If you want to make your oobleck a specific colour, mix the food colouring into the water before adding it to the cornflour.
Simply add the ingredients for oobleck into a large mixing bowl and continue to mix with your hands until it is the right consistency. Don’t worry, you’ll know when it’s right.
How long does Oobleck last for?
Oobleck lasts for about one day. If you store it in a sealed container overnight you can probably use it the next day, you might just have to add a little bit more water to get it going again.
How do you dispose of Oobleck?
Oobleck is really easy to clean. You can simply wipe it up with a cloth or sweep it up with a dustpan and broom. If left to dry you can even vacuum it up as in essence, it’s simply cornflour.
To get rid of the oobleck mixture, simply leave it to dry out, and then throw it in the bin.
You can wash it down a drain, but if you are going to do this you will have to mix it with a lot of water to make it a liquid, I’d recommend hot water. However, I would not recommend this method of disposal as you wouldn’t want to clog up your drain. It’s fine for small bits, but I wouldn’t do it for the bulk of the oobleck mixture.
I hope you found this post on how to make oobleck easy to follow. I hope you enjoy making oobleck and that your kids enjoy playing with it. If you do make it, please do tag me if you put the videos on social media.
Have a great ooblecky day!
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OOh, I’m going to try this tomorrow!
Fab! Let me know how you get on!