Tag Archives: Stem experiments for kids

5 Brilliant Ways To Experiment With Oobleck

Making an experiment with oobleck is very easy and a lot of fun for kids (and adults too!). The name oobleck comes from a Dr. Seuss story and is used commonly nowadays to name a non-newtonian fluid made from cornstarch and water. A non-newtonian fluid is a fluid that does not behave according to Newton’s law of viscosity. In other words, it has a different resistance to flow. It is sensitive to pressure and will change from solid to liquid depending on how much pressure we put on it. Because it is so easy to make at home, and it behaves so differently from other things we know, it creates the perfect environment for sneaking in some STEM learning. 

experiment with oobleck materials

In our house, we love to add color to anything. So when we decided to make some oobleck the other day, we got out our food coloring and added it to the mix. The result was fascinating! Because of the special properties of the mixture the colors created beautiful curves and spirals before mixing. In this post, you will learn how to create rainbow art and more brilliant ways to experiment with oobleck. You will also find out how you can engage with your kids so that they can learn from this experiment. 

Oobleck Recipe

All you need to make oobleck is cornstarch, water, and food coloring. We made it in a large oven tray so that we could spread it out before adding color. This way you will get the beautiful effects I was talking about earlier. You will usually need around twice the amount of cornstarch than water (2 cups of cornstarch to 1 cup of water). These would be the steps to follow:

  1. In a large oven tray add 1 cup of water 
  2. Start adding cornstarch until you reach the desired effect (oobleck should feel hard when you try to make it into a ball but as soon as you stop it will flow through your fingers)
  3. Once you achieve the right consistency let it settle and start experimenting

5 Brilliant ways to experiment with oobleck for STEM learning

Making Oobleck in itself is already an awesome and fun experiment. However,  the experiment doesn’t have to end there! If we want learning to stick, we have to go beyond the initial experiment and allow our children to do some discovery on their own. Here are some suggestions for keeping them engaged and curious about the experiment:

brilliant ways to experiment with oobleck
  • Add drops of color and make some rainbow art. This was our favorite part! Yes… adults enjoy this too!
  • Play with loose parts. We used colorful tops and our kid made towers using the oobleck as glue!! Just collect some objects and leave them around the experiment area and see what your kids come up with
  • Use kitchen utensils and observe how different this mixture is to manipulate compared to water
  • Create droplets outside of the tray. We did this outside on our waterproof tablecloth we use for experiments so we didn’t mind the mess. We let some drops fall out of the tray and observed what happened when they dried out. We compared bigger drops and smaller drops and then we added them back to the tray for more fun effects
  • Make a ramp and let the oobleck flow down. We just put a block under our tablecloth, no fancy ramp needed for this but feel free to make one too. We talked about rivers and lakes with this and how different liquids flow

Check out how our rainbow art turned out in this video:

Experiment with Oobleck observations and conversations

If you are doing this with preschool-aged children it is great to just talk and make observations while you do the experiment. By talking with your kids you are helping them build vocabulary so that they can understand the world better. When we make observations, we help them reflect on what is happening and connect ideas. So here are some suggestions when making the oobleck:

  • Add cornstarch gradually and observe the changes: is it getting harder? 
  • Try to make little balls with your hands: what happens? As soon as you stop trying to roll the oobleck into a ball it will flow across your hand
  • What happens if you poke the oobleck fast? What happens if you just gently put your finger on it? When poking fast the oobleck should behave more like playdough being poked and when going slow it will behave more like pancake batter

For older elementary school kids you can add complexity to your conversation by talking about the following concepts and asking questions:

  • Liquid/solid: when does it behave like a liquid/solid? 
  • Viscosity: how does this mixture flow compared to water? You can use a ramp to compare
  • Pressure/force: when we apply pressure what happens? Does the amount of pressure change the consistency?
  • Color mixing: what happens when we add drops of color? Why do you think it doesn’t mix directly?

We always suggest to wonder out loud with your kids instead of asking question after question. For example, “if I apply pressure I wonder what will happen?” or “what do you think will happen when we add color?”. It is always more fun to discover together than to be drilled.

Follow-up activity: Comparisons

Once you’ve explored oobleck, make something else. We mixed plain wheat flour with water to see how different the results were. It’s good for kids to have something to compare and as a bonus the entertainment lasted even longer!

This is definitely something you can repeat many times and it is always fun. And each time you do it you might find some cool way to play and experiment with oobleck. So make sure to always have cornstarch and food coloring available. 

Happy STEM learning!

Check out other brilliant activities for young kids:

experiment with oobleck brilliant ways

Save Water Activity: A Simple And Easy Experiment

Water is the main source of life. We use it all the time. Not only does our body need it to stay hydrated and keep going but it is our number one tool at home. We clean ourselves, our clothes and our home with it, we cook with it, and sometimes we even play with it! Water is a great sensory material for young children. Most families around the world get water directly from their tap which makes life so much easier. However, it is important to use water consciously so that the planet and our pockets don’t suffer. Enter the battle with our kids and the nagging parents telling kids to stop the running water. What if you could use that moment for a save water activity? 

save water experiment

Wasting water can be an abstract concept for kids. I know our little one has no feeling of how much water she uses, especially because it is such a fun thing to play with. The tap keeps running and water just keeps coming out and then going down the drain so it is difficult for young kids to grasp the concept of wasting water. So one day I asked myself if there was a better way to help her understand the amount of water that is used when we keep the tap running.  I prepared a simple save water activity we could do together that is easy and very visual for kids. It gave us the chance for a constructive play-talk and sneak in some STEM. Just a heads up, you will be using extra water for this activity so make sure you can save it for watering your plants or feeding your pets so it doesn’t go to waste 😉

Save Water Activity 

Materials you will need:

  • Stopwatch (or your mobile phone)
  • Cups
  • Pen and Paper

Save Water Experiment

  • Tell your kids you want to find out how much time it takes them to wash their hands. It is not a race, the important thing is to wash hands properly. Prepare the stopwatch or mobile phone and time how long it takes them.
  • Once you know how long it took them to wash their hands you will set the timer to that exact time. It took my kid 5 minutes!!! 
  • Grab all the cups, start the timer and run the tap. Start filling up cups until the timer goes off. Now you have a visual understanding of how much water is needed to wash your hands.
save water experiment

Looking at all the cups of water opens up a number of possibilities to sneak in some critical thinking, math and to reflect on how much water we use! Bear in mind that it might be a bit too abstract for toddlers but it is never too early to start these conversations! And as parents you may also be surprised by the outcome,

Time for Reflection and Math

You can ask questions like:

  • With all these cups, how many times could we fill up our dog’s bowl?
  • How many times could we fill up your sippy cup/drinking bottle?
  • Is that a lot of water?

For older kids:

  • If you should be drinking 5 cups of water a day, how many days of drinking water do you use when washing your hands? (If your kids are motivated you can try it with taking a shower… you will fill up many more drinking cups!)

Sneak in some Critical Thinking

  • Repeat the experiment with a half-opened tap. Ask beforehand how many cups they think it will fill? 
  • If your kid is older you could ask them if they know where the water comes from. This depends locally but usually from a water spring or reserve close by. How could we find out? 
  •  Also, for older kids it would be interesting to estimate how much water they use during one month or a whole year! Suggestions to do this:
    • Grab a pen and paper and write down all the activities that require water in a week (how many showers or baths thay have, how many times they brush their teeth or wash their hands, how much they drink…)
    • Use this experiment to calculate how many cups each activity is
    • Add up the number of cups per week
    • Convert cups to liters (1 liter is approx 4 cups) or gallons ( 1 gallon is 16 cups)
    • Multiply this number by four and you have an estimate of their water consumption for the whole month!! They will be surprised how many bathtubs it would fill. 
    • Multiply by 12 and you have their yearly consumption!
    • If you do it for the whole family you could cross-check it with your water bill, see if you were close!

Usually we don’t have any overview of how much water we use in a single day. You can save water in so many different ways or at least be aware of your water consumption. I hope you find the post inspiring and become active!

I’d love to hear from you if you’ve done the experiment. Let me know in the comments below if you were surprised by the amount of water! 

More Fun Activities and Games:

Make sure to Bookmark the Stay At Home STEM post which will be updated with all our fun STEM activities that are perfect for doing at home.

water use experiment save water