Oobleck Recipes - 25 Ways to Explore Corn Starch and Water

Slime is always a kid favorite. Oobleck is the easiest and safest slime to make. Even babies can play with it. Switch up the standard mixture of corn starch and water by trying these oobleck recipes and ways to play.

The Standard Oobleck Recipe

You’ll Need:

corn starch
water
liquid watercolors or food coloring (optional)
bowl
spoon

Add about 1/2 cup of corn starch to a large bowl. Slowly add up to a 1/2 cup of water. You may not need all of the water. Mix until you get the consistency you desire. If you add too much water, you’ll end up dissolving all of the corn starch, so add a little at a time. You want the end product to feel like slime. If you do add too much water, just add more corn starch and it’ll work out fine.

This is a fun and easy experiment to set up for your child. Let her add in corn starch and water until you get a slime. Be warned that she’ll probably add all of what you give her, so talk to her about adding a small amount of each ingredient first.

Add food coloring or liquid watercolors. Food coloring has the potential to stain. Watercolors are usually washable. Just pay attention to the ingredients in the paints if your child is likely to put his hands in his mouth. (Most paints are non-toxic and shouldn’t be a problem in small amounts.)

The Science Behind It

Oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid. It doesn’t behave like a “normal” liquid. It has properties of both a solid and a liquid depending on the amount of stress applied. When stress is applied, the corn starch and water mixture acts like a solid (your hand can’t go through; you just squish it like play dough). When constant stress is not applied, the mixture acts like a liquid.

Other examples of non-Newtonian fluids like the corn starch and water mixture are mud and wet sand. It is easier to travel across mud or wet sand when you run. You will stay on top. If you walk slowly, you will sink!

Ketchup and toothpaste are also non-Newtonian fluids except they behave in the exact opposite way of oobleck. When stress is applied they are thinner (rather than thicker like oobleck).

More Oobleck Recipes

Frozen Oobleck – It’s cold and squishy and doubles the fun of normal oobleck. We used a gorgeous blue color and a bit of glitter for this one.

Valentine Themed Frozen Oobleck – Add letters to the oobleck before freezing. This is a great way to practice sight words, spelling, or simple letter recognition. Pink watercolors, glitter, and plastic hearts give this oobleck its valentine feel.

Glowing Oobleck – Tonic water is the secret ingredient that makes this slime glow.

Color Mixing Oobleck Sensory Bag – Here’s a fun way to experience oobleck without all of the mess.

Pumpkin Oobleck Made with Real Pumpkin – You can use more than just water to make oobleck. We used the insides of a carved pumpkin to make this cool slime.

Watermelon Oobleck – Blend up some frozen watermelon for this super cool sensory slime. (From Learn Play Imagine)

Apple Oobleck – Use applesauce to make this squishy oobleck. (From Little Bins for Little Hands)

Frozen Kool-Aid Oobleck – Kool-aid makes for a lovely sensory experience. (From Science Sparks)

Scented Oobleck – Use Jell-o to give oobleck a lovely smell. (From Fun-A-Day)

Apple Cinnamon Oobleck – Yet another way to add to the sensory experience of regular oobeck. (From Sugar, Spice and Glitter)

Color Changing Oobleck – Use the power of red cabbage (an acid/base indicator) to change the color of the oobleck. (From Kids Play Box)

Dancing Oobleck – Use sound waves to make oobleck dance. (From Housing a Forest)

Rainbow Burst Oobleck – The addition of one special ingredient turns regular oobleck into fireworks. (From Twodaloo)

Glitter Oobleck – Glitter plus marbles makes for an interesting exploration. (From Mess for Less)

Galaxy Oobleck – Color makes oobleck into any theme you’d like. This galaxy oobleck is out of this world. (From Twodaloo)

Earth Day Oobleck – Again, it’s all about the colors here. Blue and green oobleck are perfect for Earth Day. (From Little Bins for Little Hands)

Snowy Christmas Tree Oobleck – Oobleck makes for a lovely snowy play scene. (From Left Brain Craft Brain)

Oobleck Dough – Adding hair gel turns oobeck into a moldable play dough with some unique properties. (From Mama. Pappa. Bubba.)

Melted Ice Cream Oobleck – This oobleck recipe goes to show that any liquid added cornstarch can make a fun oobleck! (From Kids Activities Blog)

Bubbly Oobleck – Add soap to your oobleck recipes and have fun with the bubbles. (From Enchanted Homeschooling Mom/Life with Moore Babies)

Chocolate Oobleck – This one looks like chocolate ice cream to me. I bet it smells like it, too. (From Teaching Mama)

Marbled Oobleck Art – After playing in the goo, make prints for a fun art project. (From The Imagination Tree) 23

Sandy Oobleck – Grab your dinosaurs and start digging into this sandy goo. (From Buggy and Buddy)

How to Make Oobleck Video – Babble Dabble Do has the best video of making oobleck.

Do you have any oobleck recipes to share?

Questions to Ask When Exploring Oobleck

What happens when you add water to the corn starch?
What happens if you add too much water?
Describe the texture of the mixture.
What makes the oobleck act like a solid?
When does it act like a liquid?
What do you think would happen if we let the oobleck sit for a while? (It will eventually dry out and turn back into powdery – all be it colored – corn starch. Try it!)

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This post was originally published on April 28, 2016.