Sensory Play for Kids

oobleck

Pumpkin Spice Oobleck Recipe for Fall Sensory Play

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This pumpkin spice oobleck recipe is perfect for Fall sensory play for kids. Oobleck is squishy and goopy, and edible (though not tasty), making it perfect sensory play for babies and toddlers too.

Pumpkin Spice Oobleck Recipe

The words pumpkin spice and Fall have seemingly become synonymous with one another. My own kids here me order pumpkin spice lattes at various coffee shops, so they are familiar with the terminology as well.

This pumpkin spice oobleck recipe is wonderful for sensory play as it entertains so many of the senses. The bright color stimulates sight, the pumpkin spice has a wonderful smell, and the texture of oobleck is so fun for little hands.

What you need for the pumpkin spice oobleck:

4 cups of cornstarch (or cornflower)

2 cups of warm water

orange food coloring

2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice powder (or cinnamon and nutmeg)

large bowl

spoon

How to make the pumpkin spice oobleck:

Oobleck is so easy to make, kids can do the majority of the creating on their own. Allowing kids to measure, scoop and pour is a great play-based method of practicing math and fine motor skills!

Begin by measuring and pouring the cornstarch in a large bowl.

Add the water and mix the two together. At first, it will feel clumpy and can be difficult to work with. The more kids mix and blend, the better the oobleck will come together.

If the mixture is too dry after mixing thoroughly, add more water; conversely, if too fluid, add more cornstarch. The right consistency should look like a liquid, but when squeezed with the hards, will create a solid in your grip that ‘melts’ back to a liquid quickly. It’s the magic of this non-Newtonian fluid! 

Once the oobleck consistency is correct, start turning the white goop into pumpkin spice oobleck.

Add a couple drops of orange food coloring and the spice blend then mix.

The mixture will look like pumpkin pie and smell delicious! Have so much fun playing with this pumpkin spice oobleck recipe.

How to Store Oobleck

This sensory play recipe is so much fun to play with, your kids might want to play over and over again! So, can oobleck be stored and re-used?

Oobleck can be stored in an air-tight container or ziplock bag and re-used at another time. It will ned shaking up to play with and might dehydrate over time, but adding some water to it will turn it back into oobleck quickly.

What is the Science Behind Oobleck?

Oobleck got it’s name from the popular children’s book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck. It’s a substance that can mimic both a solid and a liquid, cool right?! Made of cornstarch and water, it becomes a ball when held in the hand, and liquefies when the hand is opened. It can be a really fun sensory tool for many children who enjoy messy play.

child's hands playing in pumpkin spice oobleck

More fun oobleck recipes:

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fall pumpkin oobleck for sensory play

Pot of Gold St. Patrick’s Day Themed Oobleck

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This pot of gold St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck is perfect for young children to engage in play-based learning. The gold rocks and pots of gold add a fun dimension to a classic oobleck recipe.

Yesterday, my kids had a sensory play-filled day. First, we went out and played in the forest. They threw rocks, stomped in mud puddles, and splashed in the river.

Then, we made St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck. And finished off and cleaned up by making soap foam.

The St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck had them squealing with joy and playing for over an hour.

This morning, my two-year-old headed outside to play with the oobleck again.

This pot of gold St. Patrick's Day themed oobleck is perfect for young children to engage in play-based learning. The gold rocks and pots of gold add a fun dimension to a classic oobleck recipe.

We love this St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck because it:

This pot of gold St. Patrick's Day themed oobleck is perfect for young children to engage in play-based learning. The gold rocks and pots of gold add a fun dimension to a classic oobleck recipe. #oobleck #sensoryplay #kidsactivities #stpatricksday

What you need for St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck

  • 4 cups of cornstarch
  • 2 cups of water
  • Green food colouring
  • Small rocks
  • Terracotta pots
  • Black acrylic paint
  • Gold acrylic paint

How to Make St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck

  1. Paint rocks 1-2 coats of gold paint on rocks.
  2. Let paint fully dry.
  3. Paint terracotta pots black.
  4. Mix water and food colouring.
  5. Add coloured water to cornstarch.
  6. Mix well.
  7. Add gold rocks and pots.
  8. Have fun!

Store oobleck in an airtight container. Add water if it has started to harden. It can be kept in a fridge and reused for months.

When we made this, I had a warm bowl of water and a towel nearby. The clean up was easy.

Other awesome St. Patrick’s themed activities

Find out how to make the best glitter slime recipe. It’s fail-proof and such fun sensory play. Plus there’s a fun add-on for St. Patrick’s Day. Click here to see more. 

This digging for gold edible sensory play set up is perfect as a St. Patrick’s Day activity for kids. Baby-safe edible play is so much fun! Click here to learn more.

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes. Click here.

We hope you enjoy these St. Patrick’s Day themed activities as much as we did.

Lavender Oobleck Recipe: The Perfect Calm Down Activity for Kids

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This lavender oobleck recipe is the perfect way to teach kids about science, promote the benefits of sensory play and help kids calm down. This screen-free kids activity is perfect for one-year-olds, preschoolers, and grade school kids alike.

This lavender oobleck recipe is the perfect way to teach kids about science, promote the benefits of sensory play and help kids calm down. This screen-free kids activity is perfect for one-year-olds, preschoolers, and grade school kids alike. #sensoryplay #science #STEM #STEMlearning #sensoryplayforkids #kidsactivites #babysafe #toddlers #earlychildhoodeducation

After school can be very touch-and-go in our household. Either my kindergartener bursts out of the school doors and jumps into my arms happy. Or, he is so bone tired he acts as though carrying his backpack is too much to do.

Because of this, I have two plans of attack to avoid after school meltdowns:

  1. We head to a park with lots of snacks and blow off steam there.
  2. I set up a sensory play activity to promote calmness.

This week, I decided to whip up one of my kids’ favourite sensory play activities – oobleck.

This lavender oobleck recipe is the perfect way to teach kids about science, promote the benefits of sensory play and help kids calm down. This screen-free kids activity is perfect for one-year-olds, preschoolers, and grade school kids alike. #sensoryplay #science #STEM #STEMlearning #sensoryplayforkids #kidsactivites #babysafe #toddlers #earlychildhoodeducation

This lavender oobleck recipe is awesome because it’s:

  • inexpensive,
  • easy to whip up,
  • a great way to teach kids about science (check out why here),
  • promotes all the benefits of sensory play,
  • smells amazing,
  • taste-safe,
  • perfect for one-year-olds, and
  • calming.

Because oobleck can get messy, here are our favourite clean up tips:

  • Make your lavender oobleck recipe outside, on top of a disposable table cloth or old sheet.
  • Have a bowl of warm water beside your set up to easily wash hands.
  • Only use toys and utensils inside the lavender oobleck that are easy to wash and don’t have small crevices.
  • Store lavender oobleck in an airtight container and refrigerate.
  • Use soapy water to clean up any remaining oobleck.
  • Dried oobleck scrapes off easily. Use a butter knife to remove any excess, then wash with soapy water.
Lavender oobleck recipe. What you need is a bin, cornstarch (corn flour), essential oil, water and food colouring

Lavender Oobleck Recipe | What You Need:

Lavender oobleck recipe

How to make the Lavender Oobleck Recipe:

  1. Dump 2 cups of corn starch into a bin,
  2. In a separate container combine approximately three drops of lavender essential oil, water and food colouring. You can add each ingredient into the oobleck recipe separately. However, we have found it is easier to disperse the oil when it’s already in the water.
  3. Mix with a wooden spoon, kitchen utensil of your choice or your hands.
  4. Enjoy!
  5. To enjoy this lavender oobleck again, store in an airtight container in the fridge. You may want to add a little more water to get desired consistency. The mixture should last in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
This lavender oobleck recipe is perfect for after school or as a calming activity for young kids. Kids procure all the benefits of sensory play, it's cheap and easy to set up. #sensoryplay #oobleck #kidsactivities #playbasedlearning #learningthroughplay #toddlers

Lavender has calming effects including:

  • Reducing stress,
  • Increasing positive affect,
  • Increasing relaxation.

My kids came home from school and my almost two-year-old joined in. They played outside on our deck for almost an hour. As the sun went down, I was pleased. Not only had they enjoyed screen-free time, but they were also quiet, played calmly, and there were no after-school meltdowns.

For more great oobleck recipes, check out:

A list of oobleck activities for sensory play with kids. From glow in the dark oobleck to fun crafts with oobleck, there is something for everyone.

20 Oobleck Recipes for Sensory Play