Ooblek

Have I told ya'll that I love Pinterest  ?  Because I DO!  I get all kinds of ideas off of there.  Now mind you I've pinned more ideas than I've done, but we've had some very successful adventures using Pinterest as our creativity guide.  

One of my kid's new favorite things is Ooblek.  It's extremely hard to describe, but I'll try.  It is a liquid but you can mold it, it doesn't hold the shape once you let go, but you can physically hold it.  Yeah, I know, that doesn't sound possible, but I swear that is what it is! If you want to try it yourself you'll see!  Plus this is extremely cheap to do with the kiddos, and as long as you do it outside very clean up friendly.

Ingredients needed: 1 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup water and food coloring (optional).  This is for one bowl.  I typically make 3 or 4 bowls for the kids to have to mix colors etc.

Directions: 
Mix the food coloring and water first (if you try to put the food coloring in after you mix in the cornstarch it doesn't go well).  Then dump in the cornstarch and mix.  Then give it to your kids!

Things I love about this:
1. Most kids love to get messy and this allows them to do just that
2. It is totally safe.  If for some reason one of the kids decides to take a taste there is nothing in it that will harm them.
3.  As soon as this stuff starts to dry it goes right back to being cornstarch! (You can't save it though, it doesn't go well when you try to reconstitute it.  Ask me how I know)
4.  It will not mess up clothing.
5.  It keeps my kids entertained for 30 to 45 minutes every time we do it!  And that is saying something, because my kids tend to have the attention span of an ADHD person that's hyped up on sugar and caffeine.
6.  It's super cheap to make. A box of cornstarch costs about 1.50 depending on where you buy it.  Sometimes you can find it cheaper. Even if you use the whole box at once you're still only spending 1.50!  That's cheap entertainment, people! 

Here are some pictures of the kids having some messy fun with their Ooblek:

I wasn't sure if it would stain their clothes so I put the boys in a couple of old shirts of the Hub's

O and Sweet pea jump right in, they love it!

Firecracker took more convincing.  He doesn't like to be messy

He did it though!  I was so proud he was willing to try!  And right after I took this picture he cleaned off his hand and used his spoon to play with it.  Hahaha!

This is how it looks once it starts to dry. 

   The clean up was super easy.  I sent the kids inside to wash their hands and I just hosed off the little table.  Easy peasy!  It's a great, fun little adventure for your kids.  Hey, even I liked to play with it!  =)

Have a great day!
Ms. T


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