Oobleck

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!  In your honor, we made up a batch of oobleck.  Don't tell me you have never heard of oobleck!  This goo is something special.  It's so amazing that you just have to try it because I surely cannot do it justice with words and pictures.

There are many recipes for oobleck, but the one we used is:

1. pour one cup of water into a container
2. add a few drops of green food coloring to the water
3. add two cups of corn starch and stir

You now have oobleck.  It feels like a solid when you try to pick it up, but it quickly becomes a liquid and drips through your fingers.  Experiment by dropping different objects into the oobleck, stirring it, picking it up, and dripping water on it. 

T, C, and R had so much fun playing with this while I read Bartholomew and  the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss.  In this book, the King of Didd wakes up one morning and decides he is bored with predictable sun, rain, fog and snow.  He wants something different and orders his magicians to get to work to make something unique fall from the sky.  They make oobleck!  The King learns to be careful what he wishes for when the oobleck causes problems in his kingdom.

If you want the scientific explanation, oobleck is a slimy polymer classified as a non-Newtonian fluid.  Non-Newtonian fluids can look and feel like both liquids and solids, but their flow only changes when you change the type of pressure you apply to its surface.  If you want more details, you can google those terms.

WARNING:  This is not for the faint of heart.  This stuff makes a mess.  My advice is to cover all surfaces with plastic tablecloths that you can just dispose of later.  I did not do this, and clean up was interesting.  The more water you add, the more resistant to clean up this stuff becomes.  Believe it or not, this stuff washes off of clothing without a problem.  Phew!  Also, whatever you do, DO NOT put this stuff down the drain or toilet.  If you do, you better call a plumber! 

It's worth the mess.  I enjoyed this myself.  It is so cool the way it changes in your hands.  So, relax a little bit, cover all of your surfaces, and have fun!