Whip up a thanksgiving themed oobleck recipe for quick science all season long. Whether you hate it or love it, you can use this traditional berry for a number of fun Thanksgiving science activities. This season, set up a STEMs-Giving for a great Thanksgiving lesson plan, including this easy cranberry oobleck.
HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY OOBLECK!
PinHOW TO MAKE OOBLECK
If your kids want to help in the kitchen but you could really use them to be occupied but nearby, whip up a batch of cranberry oobleck!
Learning how to make oobleck is one of the easiest science experiments you can do on a small budget with kids of all ages, and in a class setting or at home. I love how versatile our main Dr. Seuss oobleck recipetruly is and it provides a neat science lesson along with great tactile sensory play!
This cranberry oobleck recipe below adds to the senses with the smell of cinnamon and apples. Perfect for your fall activities with kids, fall lesson plans, or a preschool fall theme! We’ve got you covered with this oobleck activity, or rather you will be covered with oobleck!
FUN OOBLECK RECIPES TO TRY
Kids love themed activities for the different seasons and holidays and it’s a great way to reinforce similar concepts while still having fun. Oobleck can be done in so many ways!
YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Real Pumpkin Oobleck
- Candy Cane Peppermint Oobleck
- Red Hots Oobleck
- Rainbow Oobleck
- Oobleck Treasure Hunt
- Halloween Oobleck
- Snowflake Oobleck
WHAT IS OOBLECK?
Oobleck is usually a mixture of cornstarch and water. Roughly a 2:1 ratio but you can tinker with the ratio to find the desired consistency that still maintains the properties of oobleck.
What’s the science of oobleck? Well, it’s solid. No, wait it’s a liquid! Wait again, it’s both! Very fascinating to be exact. Pick up solid chunks, pack it into a ball and watch it ooze into a liquid. This is called a non-newtonian fluid, a substance that acts like both a liquid and a solid. Read more here!
—>>> FREE STEM Activities For Thanksgiving
WHY IS IT CALLED OOBLECK?
This slimy strange mixture got its name from one of our favorite Dr. Seuss books called Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Definitely take the book out of the library or pick up a copy to go along with this fun cranberry science activity!
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Dr. Seuss Activities
PinCRANBERRY OOBLECK RECIPE
OOBLECK INGREDIENTS:
- 3 Cups of corn starch
- 1-14oz can jellied cranberry sauce
- 1/4 cup of water
*Alternatively, you can use cranberry juice if that’s what you have on hand! See more fun ways to explore cranberries below as well.
PinHOW TO MAKE OOBLECK
1: Start by adding cornstarch to the bowl. I always recommend having extra cornstarch on hand for experimentation with ratios of cornstarch to liquid or if the kids accidentally add too much liquid.
Oobleck is very forgiving! You will just end up with a larger amount in the end if you need to add more powder or more liquid.
2: Next, add about 1/2 a can of cranberry sauce and a 1/4 cup of water. Get ready to mix. This can be messy and your hands may be easier than a spoon. You can use the rest of the jellied cranberry sauce for secret messages.
PinIf you add too much cornstarch, go ahead and add back in some water and vice versa. I highly suggest making small changes at a time. A little can go a long way once you start incorporating it into the mixture.
Your oobleck should be neither soupy and runny nor too stiff and dry, but you can mix it up to be thinner or thicker depending on your preference. You can toss around the word viscosity too!
PinCan you pick up a clump but then it oozes back into the bowl? Yes? Then you have a good oobleck on your hands! It’s a great alternative to homemade slime and has similar properties to slime!
PinFUN THINGS TO DO WITH OOBLECK
Oobleck is truly fun for kids to help make too! It’s completely borax-free and non-toxic. Not tasty but taste-safe just in case someone sneaks in a nibble.
- try adding interesting kitchen utensils to help investigate such as a potato masher
- add food coloring before mixing or after mixing
- add small (easily washable) toys and check out what happens
OOBLECK SCIENCE
Oobleck is a fun substance made from a mixture of cornstarch and water. It’s a bit messy too!
A mixture is a material made up of two or more substances to form a new material which is our oobleck! Kids can also explore liquids and solids which are states of matter.
Here you are combining a liquid and a solid, but the mixture doesn’t become one or the other. Hmmm…
What do the kids think?
A solid has its own shape whereas a liquid will take the shape of the container it is put into. Oobleck is a bit of both! That’s why oobleck is called a non-Newtonian fluid. You can easily show this with a wooden block and a glass of water! States of matter are perfect for kids to learn about at any age.
A non-Newtonian fluid is neither a liquid nor a solid but a bit of both! You can pick up a clump of the substance like a solid and then watch it ooze back into the bowl like a liquid.
Make sure to try this! You can form it into a ball even! Touch the surface of the oobleck in the bowl lightly. It will feel firm and solid. If you apply slow pressure, your fingers will sink into it like a liquid.
Oobleck is so fascinating for such a simple and inexpensive science activity. Make sure to ask your kiddos questions as they experiment and explore this oobleck recipe. In fact, just tinkering with the proportions of the recipe is a great science skill.
MORE FUN WAYS TO EXPLORE CRANBERRIES
- Cranberry Structures
- Cranberry Secret Messages
- Dancing Cranberries
- Cranberry Sensory Science
- Fizzing CranberriesCRANBERRY OOBLECK FOR FALL SCIENCE!
Check out all our awesome STEMs-Giving for Thanksgiving!
Printable Thanksgiving Project Pack
STEMS-Giving Pack! A full menu of Thanksgiving dinner science activities, secret codes, and more!
What’s Included:
- STEMS-Giving! A feast of science and STEM with simple experiments and projects for home or classroom!
- Even More Thanksgiving theme STEM activities with printable sheets, instructions, and useful information all using easy-to-source materials and perfect for limited time needs. Includes a Thanksgiving theme engineering pack with fun, problem-based challenges for kids to solve!
- Got STEAM? Try a turkey in a disguise challenge with writing prompts and more! Also color by code turkeys in disguise!
- Try your hand at building shapes with cranberry structure challenge cards.
- Discover Thanksgiving brick-building challenges perfect for early finishers, quiet time, hands-on math, or family time.
