Oobleck, simply one of the best things EVER.

Today Lily had a play date and we decided to make Oobleck! Oobleck, as you might know is a gooey substance that is both a liquid and a solid and has some very interesting properties. I thought it would be something fun that they could play with and see how it would entertain them! There have been several occasions in my life in which I have made oobleck, however they have all been a very long time ago and I haven't felt the need nor opportunity to make it again. Well, now I have children! (and this is a very good excuse!)

For today's Oobleck, we used the following items and ingredients:

Roughly 1.5 c Cornstarch
Roughly 1 c of Water (read on to see why I say "Roughly")
Casserole dishes, about 2" deep
Food coloring (must find stain free food coloring, if it even exists)
Our hands

How it's done:
Put your cornstarch in the casserole dish and slowly mix in the water using your hands. You'll notice that when there isn't much water, or when the water is separated from the cornstarch, it is very hard to mix. You might need to add more water or cornstarch to get the right consistency (which is why I said "roughly" earlier) We had to help the children get it going. You'll know it's the right texture when you are able to pick it up and shape a ball with it, but then it will melt pretty quickly in your hand. You can give it just one color or you can add several colors and marble them together as we did.

DISCLAIMER: This stuff is super awesome. It makes a mess, but I guarantee that your kids will LOVE this activity and play with it forever. You will even want to play with it. It's nearly impossible to keep your hands OUT of the Oobleck, actually.

Our kids played with it for 45 minutes straight before the first one decided that she was done, and the second followed suit quickly. However, as anyone who has 3-4 year old children knows, for them to be interested in it for that long is amazing.

After a while, just playing with the Oobleck seemed boring, so we decided to try our luck at pulling oobleck prints just like The Imagination Tree, and it was super fun! Each of the kids pulled 3 prints, then they decided that they were done, and cleaned up.

After they were all cleaned up, however, us adults decided to try our luck at pulling prints! It was super fun!

I recommend letting the print dry, then just rubbing your hand over it to remove the excess oobleck mixture and reveal more color that soaks into the paper!

About two hours after we finished with the oobleck, the kids came back around asking for more! The water dries up quite a bit, but we just added a bit more water and they were back in business!
The blog over at Mossy Mossy contains a lot of really interesting facts about Oobleck and why it behaves the way it does- you should check it out!

All in all, this activity earns 5/5 Hearts from me as a mom, it kept the kids entertained for a really long period of time and I've got Lily asking me already when we're going to do it again!