Magical Oobleck

(Open Ended Play)

Looking for magic and sensory activities with your toddler but stuck indoor? Look no more as you found the right play: magical oobleck.

It was a stormy day and our daughter was caught in bad cold, so no outdoor play that day. Then I remembered a scientific article about magical oobleck . I didn’t know the source anymore, but I did remember the detail of ingredients necessary from the back of my head because it’s so easy. Yes, this wasour first oobleck and without a recipe. If it failed, so be it, thankfully it was a blast instead of failure. Later I wished we had this even tried earlier.

For the purpose of sharing with you for here, you can fins the recipe down below, but after did it ourselves it should be alright to eyeball it. Just add cornstarch followed by water until you get the desired consistency. At first it might appear runny, but will thicken over time.

Materials:

-1/4 cup water in bowl with added food coloring (we used pink)

-1/2 cup cornstarch

Instruction:

-present the materials in front of your kiddo

-ask your kiddo to pour and then mix water and cornstarch thoroughly

-let your kiddo explore freely

She loves pouring and mixing, so it was a huge hit from the very beginning. Lots of “Oooh” and “Aaah” out of sensation she felt on her finger tips. Even I myself can’t resist the temptation to play along. It felt magical.

Y can’t hold herself to dip, pour the oobleck to the side of the bowl and eventually on her own other hand. It thicken over time and eventually dried off. We didn’t bother to use any tool and just use our hands (and feet) to experience it. Thinking of it, without our touch, we might miss the magical feeling.

Cornstarch mixed with a little water is peculiar stuff. At first glance it seems like any other liquid—we can pour it or dip our hands in it. We can however touch and grab it. As the cornstarch settled to the bottom, it was difficult to move. Give it a squeeze or strike the surface of the fluid with a hard blow, and the cornstarch slurry suddenly firms up.

Bizarre? We call it magical. Is it magical enough? For us it does.

#oobleck #cornstarch #water #toddler #play