• Cornflower;
• A bowl;
• Water;
• A spoon, or your hands;
• A cup for measuring;
• Food colouring (optional).

1. Put newspaper down on counter or table top
2. Put 1 cup of cornstarch into the bowl. Mix in food colouring if you like.
3. Add a half of cup water, slowly mixing the cornstarch and water with your fingers until all the powder is wet.
4. Keep adding water until the ooze feels like a liquid when you're mixing slowly.
5. Now try tapping on the surface with your finger or a spoon. If the ooze is just right it will not splash, it will feel solid. If it's too powdery then add more water, if too wet add more cornstarch.
6. Play around with the ooze. Pick up a handful and squeeze it. Stop squeezing and it should drip through your fingers.
7. Rest your fingers on the surface of the ooze. Let them sink down to the bottom of the bowl. Then try to pull them out. What happens?
8. Take a blob and roll it between your hands to make a ball. Then stop rolling, the ooze should trickle between your fingers.
9. How could you make it different/slower/faster/more explosive? Put something small and light (like a plastic toy on the surface). What happens?

The 'ooze' is actually called Oobleck, it is referred to as a non-Newtonian Fluid as it displays characteristic of both a solid and a liquid! As bizarre as it seems, we can find out why by observing the way the tiny solid particles of cornstarch interact in the water. By applying pressure or force to oobleck it's mysteriously transformed into a solid, malleable substance. When pressure is removed it changes back to liquid.