Easing into the new school year, we experienced a great day on Friday. We started out with our morning meeting and created our version of a “Kanban” to help plan things out. There was lots of BMR (Big Muscle Room – our indoor physical activity space) time, reading, Playmobil circus, Lego, games, puppet shows and a special science activity.

Incorporating science into age-appropriate play, we made some Oobleck, which is a suspension of cornstarch and water that can behave like a solid or a liquid depending on how much pressure is applied to it. When you grab some in your hand, it will form a solid ball in your palm just until you release the pressure, then it will flow out between your fingers. Materials that behave this way are classified as non-Newtonian liquids because their flow properties are not described by a constant viscosity. The name Oobleck comes from the 1949 children’s book Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss. In the story a sticky liquid falls from the sky as a result of the king becoming bored with normal weather.

-Carol