Goo

Kids will love making goo (or goop) with this easy recipe.

Have you ever made goo before? It’s a fun, messy science play idea that’s often also known as oobleck or cornflower slime.

If not you MUST try it, and if you are one of the many people who’s enjoyed this activity with your kids before then this is a reminder to try it again.

Goo is a bunch of squishy, squelchy, slimy fun and the scientific message behind it is that this substance is a liquid which acts like a solid. If you mix it fast it feels like you’re mixing cement. If you mix it slow it’s lovely and smooth. If you punch it hard it won’t stick to your hands but if you slowly dip your fingers in – well, go on and try it!

Your kids can easily make goo all by themselves. Mine did.

You will need:

• 1 cup cornflour (cornstarch in USA)
• 1/2 cup water
• food colouring or liquid watercolours if you have them (they are washable and won’t stain little hands and clothes)

How to:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and you’re all set to go! It’s a good idea to add the water gradually until you get the right consistency, if the mixture feels too runny and won’t stiffen when you mix it fast then it means that you need to add a bit more flour.

This recipe will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge but after that it must be tossed in the bin.

Try dripping hands full of goo onto sheets of coloured card stock (or use recycled cardboard) to make lumpy artworks and let them dry in the sun. Your artworks will crumble and fall off once dry so you won’t be able to hang them, but it’s all for fun anyway.

One of my daughters simply can’t get enough of messy art experiences, so this activity is great for her, whilst the other is not a big fan of getting anything messy at all on her fingers, hands and clothes, so this activity is also useful to help her get over her fears and dislikes.

Do your kids like to get messy?

More messy play ideas:

• Make a mermaid small world in a bowl
• Try this dinosaurs in sticky mud activity
• My little one loved this scoop and pour soup mix play experience
• Make some dinosaurs in rainbow jelly

There is an absolute goldmine of messy play ideas on our messy fun board on Pinterest too! It’s one of my favourites.