How to Make Oobleck: The Not Quite Liquid, Not Quite Solid Slime

On weekends, we do science experiments!

Ideally, we should be doing science experiments on Fridays since it was what I wrote in our original homeschool schedule. However, I kinda feel bad for letting Yuri do school work on a Friday especially when all the other kids in the village are already playing in the playground.

(Note: Our homeschool session begins at 4 pm after my work ends.)

So on Fridays, I just let Yuri play or, in the case of the past 2 weeks, let him come with his iya (lola) to the mall to do some grocery shopping. Then on weekends, when we have afternoons free, we spend some time doing simple science experiments AKA magic!

Our most recent experiment? The Oobleck! It’s a kind of slime (named after a Dr Seuss character) that is not quite liquid and not quite solid. It is liquid in its relaxed state but, when you apply pressure unto it, it turns solid. My junior high school sister had performed this experiment at school in the past and was really eager to recreate it at home with me and Yuri. Cool beans!

Ingredients:

1. Water
2. Corn Starch
3. Container (we used a heart-shaped pan for the cuteness factor but you can use anything at all)
4. Food Colouring (optional)

I didn’t follow specific measurements because we were only “feeling” the mixture. However, you can easily Google “Oobleck” for measurements. What we did was pour some water into the container (not too much) and then gradually add corn starch while my sister squeezed and pinched the mixture. When it finally felt “tough” enough, she said the Oobleck was done.

Then we added food colouring.

And it was time to play!

And it was a really cool slime to play with. It was liquid when left alone in the container but when you push it, squish it, roll it — whatever — it turns into solid.

(We still played with the Oobleck the next day. My mess-conscious child used chop sticks instead of his fingers but still had fun haha.)

Depending on the pressure applied, the texture can range from play dough-ish to crumbly chalk-ish. From liquid, it turns to solid, and from solid, it goes back to liquid! I know it sounds a bit confusing — I was also confused when I was first reading about it, so maybe watching this video of my stubby fingers will help.

What You Will Learn:

For adults and older kids, the concept of non-newtonian fluid. Watch this for a reinforcement lesson!

For preschoolers and younger kids (and, okay, older kids and adults!), this is a great sensory experience and can be used for fine motor skill development. It can also be a good way to introduce these topics: texture, phases of matter, or viscosity. And it’s a fun way to spend the afternoon!