How to make Goo

Kids will love making goo (also known as goop, oobleck or cornflour slime) with this easy recipe.

It’s an outdoorsy, sciency, messy play idea that’s a lot of fun for kids of all ages. Especially preschoolers!

This messy play idea was first published in 2013 and has been updated and reshared for today’s audience.

You might also like this sandbox small world play idea

Ever made goo before? If not you MUST try it. If you’ve enjoyed this activity with your kids before then this is a reminder to make it again. 

Goo is a bunch of squishy, squelchy, slimy fun.

A cool scientific fact about about goo is that it’s 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!

How to make goo

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.

One of my daughters can’t get enough of messy art experiences, so she thought this activity was SUPER FUN. My other daughter finds getting messy very stressful—she gets upset when her hands or clothes get sticky. For her, this activity is useful to help her get over her fears.

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.

Do your kids like to get messy?

More messy play ideas:

• Make some dinosaurs in sticky mud for a chocolate-scented goo experience
• Ever made cookies and had your kids get OBSESSED with the rolling out the dough part? Make them their own cinnamon cookie playdough so they can *make cookies* for hours
• Create amazing hand bubbles with this DIY recipe
• Here are some creative ideas with coloured pasta