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 hisย iyaย (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:
- Water
- Corn Starch
- Container (we used a heart-shaped pan for the cuteness factor but you can use anything at all)
- Food Colouring (optional)
I didn’t follow specific measurements because we were onlyย “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!
21 Comments
I think your homeschool is so cool! For a school that starts at 4 pm, I think I want to send my daughter in your house, hehe. I’m not sure if my daughter will like this though, she’s not a fan of sticky, slimy fingers.
It’s the first time I’m hearing about Oobleck but it looks so fun to do with the little one! Not sure if she would like it though, I might just hear her say ‘dirty’ and would ask me to wash her hands all the time hahaha! May pagka-arte, mana sa nanay hahaha ;p Or she might eat it! Would love to try it with my little one though ๐
This is cool!! I would love to try this with my son, i’m pretty sure he’ll love this. I’ll show this to him. Thanks for sharing! Our homeschooling starts at 2pm or 3pm, not because I go to work, but because my kids are not morning peeps.:)
This is an awesome expriment. Been taking down notes since last month for possible homeschooling activities and surely we will try this one. Thanks.
Kids love to make a mess. I think they find joy seeing how messy they can get as much as possible. Cool idea to share this.
This is so cool. My son is still young for this but will share this to my niece. She will surely love this idea. Thanks for sharing.
That’s amazing! I would defnitely love to try making thisd too! Thank you for sharing. ๐
Oh my, my kids will enjoy this ๐ Thanks!
Im sure your kid had a blast making them slime! Lol! Will try this out with my 3 year old.
I think my toddler will love this activity, thank you for sharing! ^_^ I can’t wait to try this at home hihi
Oooh I love making these DIY Science activities. I especially love making paints and playdough, we haven’t done Oobleck though. Sure, will google the measurements. Thanks for the tip. Judah will surely love this.
A must try! My kids will surely love to do this science experiment. I plan to try doing this ‘oobleck’ on weekend, so I have the time to clean right after the messy play ( I’m pretty sure!). We don’t have househelp at the moment, so you can imagine the chaos done by a preschooler and a 3rd grader. Whew!
I have read about Oobleck before and I have been planning to make this with my daughter but we still haven’t done it. I’m sure she’ll have lots of fun! Thank you for sharing!
By the way, you mentioned your homeschool starts at 4 in the afternoon right after your work. I’m just curious, what does your little one do in the morning? What is he busy with at the time you’re away? ๐
Hi Joy! He just stays with me in our home office and does his own thing. Sometimes he plays with puzzles, if he’s in the mood he would “read” books. Most of the time he plays with his Legos. I allow him to watch some YouTube vids din ๐
Our Ziggy got a chance to play with oobleck a few months ago when he joined a science workshop. He enjoyed it a lot. Hope we get to make it here at home too soon.
Wow so cool! I’ve only encountered this now and surprise that you can do something like this. Will try this out with my future daughter. ๐
Napa-wow ko ani ba! As in. hehe. I hope we can try this out too, interesting! And was that Yuri’s voice in the video background? Grabe ka cute! “Don’t dwahp-et!”. haha.
Hahaha oo si Yuri to!
Ooohh, I’ll wait until my youngest is a little older for her to learn about Oobleck!
This is a wonderful activity for children. I’d never thought of this but I would love to try this soon when my son is old enough to learn.
Making Oobleck is a fun, sensory activity for kids that is inspired by the book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss.