Oobleck!

 

What is this stuff? Is it glue? Is it yogurt? Is it some particularly low-budget brand of Play-Doh? No...it's Oobleck!


This is a story activity based on Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss. In the story, a page named Bartholomew Cubbins must save the day when the king decides he's tired of all the "usual" things that fall from the sky, and asks his magicians to conjure up an all-new substance: "Oobleck." The gooey Oobleck starts clogging up everything and wreaking all kinds of havoc, until Bartholomew comes up with a very simple solution to end the whole mess.....

You can make your own "Oobleck," and it is strange, intriguing stuff. Technically, it is a "non-newtonian fluid," which means that it acts like both a solid and a liquid. When you pour it, it is liquid, but if any force is applied to it, it acts like a solid. So you can squeeze it, and it will feel completely dry; but the second you release your grip, it becomes liquid again!

Or you can run a fork through it, and you'll get dryish scratch marks,

 

but the second you lift the fork, all the Oobleck will ooze back together as if the scratch marks were never there : a little like that wet sand right at the water's edge on the beach.

According to my friend Wikipedia, this is "due to polymers, which are long chains in the structure of Oobleck. When you hit Oobleck hard, the polymers tangle and resist the force. When you push something in it gently, the polymers have time to move, and it acts like a liquid." So there you have it.

We read the book and then made our own Oobleck; it is messy, and you may hyperventilate slightly during the activity, but you will be pleased by how easily it cleans up with water.

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Recipe for "Oobleck"

-- 2 cups cornstarch in a large mixing bowl
-- About 1 cup of water (add a little more, bit by bit, if you want a runnier Oobleck)
-- a few drops of green food coloring so it will be green like the Oobleck in the book

Drop a few drops of food coloring into your water. Then, stir the water into the cornstarch with a fork until it is about as thick as pancake batter. I preferred ours a little on the thicker side.

Set your kids up with a bowl of Oobleck and some spoons, forks, whatever you like -- they will be pretty surprised -- this ain't their mama's Play-Doh!
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Further Oobleckiness:

Here is a rather entertaining, 4 1/2-minute clip from the show "Mythbusters," in which an Oobleck-style experiment (though not mentioned by its literary name) was done on a larger scale, using 200 gallons of water and 1,000 pounds of cornstarch. The segment includes a good explanation of how a non-newtonian fluid works. Adam (a "mythbuster") is able to run back and forth across the surface of what looks like a regular ol' liquid. Older kids (maybe 4 and above) will enjoy this.

"Fast Food"

In recent years, for whaatever reason, funny little pictures made of produce seem to have become popular. I guess there are certain trends you just can't anticipate. Anyway, a friend gave us this book "Fast Food" from her donation pile.

 

and the second Nora saw it, she said, "We should make some 'fast food,' Mommy!"

She especially liked the little tangerine-in-a-banana-boat, shown in the middle of this page:

 

So that was what she asked to make first.

[As a side note, this book's reading level is more for ages 2 or so, but older children can enjoy the pictures, which are very cute. Also, many of the vegetable figures are actually not that complicated, like the cars shown below.

 

So your child can replicate them successfully, while adding her own touches.]

 

We didn't buy any "special" produce for this craft, we just used what we had on hand.

Two Great Art Books for Kids

I love books about art for children. Reading and thinking about art outside of craft time helps kids put creativity in a larger context. It's fun for them to realize that other people love to draw and paint, too -- even some grownups! In "Drawing Lessons from a Bear," David McPhail adopts the persona of a (now grown-up) bear to essentially tell the story of how he became an artist. His bear character recalls how, as just a young cub, he loved to draw on the floor of his den; he'd wake up during hibernation to draw; in the summer, he'd draw all day long. Eventually, the bear grows up to become a professional artist. He is offered awards like houses and cars, but, being a bear, has no need for such things. All he wants to do, even as a grown-up, is draw. The message is that drawing makes him happy and he uses it to make others happy.

 

The drawings are warm and engaging, and I like the message that you can tell what you really have a passion for if it's what you want to do all day long! But my favorite part of the book is at the end, when the bear asks his child readers if they love to draw, too. And, if so, they can become artists. All they have to do is shout, "I AM AN ARTIST!": "There. Now you are an artist. Forever and always."

"Lucy's Picture," by Nicola Moon, is a great introduction to the genre of collages (one of our personal favorites). When Lucy's teacher sets up the paints for her students during art time, Lucy asks if she can make a collage instead. She gathers materials like feathers, sand, and other items to assemble a beautiful collage. At the end of the story, it is revealed that she's made the collage for her grandfather, who is blind, and he can "see" the picture by feeling it. It's a great way to explain the idea behind a collage: a picture you can feel!

 

I found both of these at our local library.

Story Craft: 'Owl Babies'

 

Owl Babies is such a sweet and simple book. Three baby owls -- Sarah, Percy, and Bill -- wait anxiously for their mother to come home from a trip to fetch them food. When she does, it affirms their knowledge that Mommy will never leave them!

Your child can make her own little owlet just like the ones in the story. (Nora wanted me to know that this one was "Bill.")

All you need is: A pinecone; a small stip of polyester fiberfill (like for filling stuffed animals); two googly eyes; and a scrap of yellow, orange, black, or brown construction paper. Also, glue or a glue stick.

First, have your child wrap the poly-fill around the pinecone. You don't even need glue for this part. Just help her tuck the poly-fill into the pinecone all snug and nice, so the brown part of the pinecone is covered.

 

Have your child glue on the googly eyes. Then, cut a teensy diamond shape from your piece of construction paper and fold it to make a beak. Put on a tiny dab of glue and have your child affix the beak.

 

There! An owlet to read the story with you! Of course his mommy would come back for such a cute little thing!

Story Craft: 'It Looked Like Spilt Milk'

 

The childrens' book It Looks Like Spilt Milk lets kids find all kinds of fun shapes in the clouds. What shapes can come about accidentally when kids make their own paint "clouds?"

This is a simple craft. Pour some white kid-safe paint into a paper or plastic cup. Add enough water, gradually, so that the paint is thin enough to dribble off the spoon, but still opaque.

Give your child a sheet of blue construction paper. Let her dribble and dab the paint wherever she wants. (This craft is more about the process than the result -- as all kids' crafts should be. Nora got really into dabbing and dribbling the paint -- she wanted to do three of these. I'll admit, I tried it myself and there was something fun about it.)

 

When your child has dribbled and dropped to her heart's content, fold the paper in half and have her rub the sides together, then unfold. Does she see any shapes in her "clouds?"

 

Nora saw "a dribbly dog."