Frozen Oobleck

Now that the weather is getting warmer, we all want to be outside. At least, I do! This activity is great for playing on the sidewalk. You might try to write or paint the sidewalk with these frozen pops or pick up sticks to scrap through the melted oobleck. If your little one stills likes to taste things, oobleck is safe as it is made of cornstarch and water.

Materials

• About 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch per cube
• About 2 Tablespoons of water per cube
• Food coloring
• Popsicle sticks (you don’t have to use popsicles sticks, you can play with the frozen oobleck like they are ice cubes too)
• Ice cube tray

Directions

1. Start by adding 2 Tablespoons of water per cube.
2. Add food coloring to the water and mix.
3. Add cornstarch to the water and food coloring.
4. Mix. It should be hard to mix. It should feel very thick especially as you try to stir harder. The gentler you are, the easier the spoon should slide through the mixture.
5. To make sure you have a good consistency, try quickly tapping on the surface of each cube. The faster you tap, the more solid the mixture should be. If you gently rest your finger on the surface, it should act like a liquid and let your finger slide through. If your consistency is too water, add more cornstarch and keep mixing.
6. If you are adding popsicle sticks, add one per cube and pop the cubes in the freezer. I made ours in the morning and we played with the oobleck midafternoon.
7. Take the Frozen oobleck cubes outside and have fun! It is an interesting consistency as it melts, so don’t forget to investigate that and talk about it!

Riley's experience

Daddy joined us for this activity which was quite the treat. We all headed outside and set up on the sidewalk. Daddy focused on painting the sidewalk and the tray the Frozen Oobleck was carried out on. He showed Riley how to mix the colors in the tray as it melted. Since oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid, it reacts both like a solid and like a liquid, this makes mixing a bit tricky. The colors also didn’t really mix, but looked more like marbling. It was really pretty! Riley loved to crawl through the melting oobleck which made Daddy uneasy as she became progressively dirtier. Ha-ha. It did make her jeans look really cool! Riley was also excited to be outside and take in nature. She found sticks, leaves, and mulch to bring back to the oobleck and try to scrap through. We had a blast being outside together as a family and now we have a colorful sidewalk!

Benefits

• Early science exploration: You are exposing your child to early science explorations as they explore temperature, states of matter, develop their curiosity, and practice investigating and exploring.
• Fine motor skills: Your child will be strengthening their hands and fingers as they grab and manipulate the Frozen Oobleck.
• Gross motor skills: As Riley played, she moved all over. She was walking, crouching, sitting, and standing. By moving around during play, your child is exercising their gross motor, coordination, and balance skills.
• Cognitive Development: Your child is experiencing this play with a variety of senses which is creating stronger neural connections and pathways to be formed.
• Language Development: Talk about what you and your child are experiencing. Talk about the temperature of the Frozen oobleck and how it is changing. Talk about how the texture changes. Mentioned how sometimes the oobleck acts like a solid and is hard. Then mention how other times it is like a liquid. Show them what you mean by this. Expose your child to vocabulary that relates to what they are doing.

Links to Materials