Ewwwww....Oobleck

Wesley was a little distressed when he got home from school yesterday. Apparently they read the book "Bartholomew and Oobleck" and Mrs. C. told them that they'd be making their own oobleck in school on Monday. Most children would find this really cool, but Wesley found it really stressful. Wesley does NOT like to get messy and he was really worried about what the oobleck would be like.

Luckily, Wesley's mommy has an elementary education and children's librarianship background. Translated: Mommy knows her oobleck.  I told Wesley that we would make our very own oobleck at home and then he would know exactly what it would be like when they make it at school.

Wesley loved the idea and this morning we made our very own oobleck.

For those of you unfamiliar with oobleck, it's just a mixture of cornstarch and water with a little food coloring thrown in. What's neat about it is that if you squeeze it a little bit, it becomes pretty solid, but when you release pressure, it oozes like slime.  Very cool!

That is unless you are Wesley.

Wesley put the water in the bowl and I had him touch it. Nothing to worry about with water. Then I had him touch the cornstarch. Nothing to worry about there. Then we mixed the two together and added food coloring.

BIG PROBLEM! Wesley did not want to touch it at all. He dipped one finger in and said he was done, but I was having none of that - especially knowing since they will have to do more than that at school. Mean ol' mommy made him put his whole hand in (despite the tears). I made him hold it and squeeze it and then let it get slimy in his hands. Then we played "Don't Let the Oobleck Escape" and tried to keep as much of it in our hands as we could without letting it slime back into the bowl. By the time we were done with that game Wesley was laughing and saying how cool oobleck was.

After a quick hand wash (which not only got us clean, but allowed me to show Wesley how easily the oobleck comes off) we put the oobleck in a plastic bag for later. Wesley carried the bag around to show Ryan and renamed the oobleck "zombie slime."  He can't wait to play with it again tomorrow.

I think Monday's oobleck science experiment will be a success for Wesley.