Plain oobleck on its own is a 10/10, but adding jelly beans for a jelly bean oobleck Easter sensory bin earns a score that is off the charts. This simple, easy, delightful sensory activity is an Easter favorite and one you’ll want to do year after year.
We discovered jelly bean oobleck on accident
It was a normal preschool Friday morning outside in the play yard, with children playing and exploring the centers we had set up.
We had an oobleck station on one side of the play yard, children surrounding it and ooh-ing and aah-ing over their science fun.
On another side of the yard, we had a jelly bean sensory table filled with millions and billions of colorful little jelly beans.
“What would happen if we mixed the jelly beans into the oobleck?” someone asked.
Like in a movie, all the kids stopped and looked at me, their eyes as big as saucers.
“Let’s find out!” I replied, and as they say, the rest is history.
🐇 Related: Bunny hop on over to our collection of the best Easter activities for kids.
Materials
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- Cornstarch
- Water
- Jelly beans
- Coloring – liquid watercolors or food dye
- Shallow container
- Scooping materials: ex: bowls, jars, cups, plastic Easter eggs
- Floor mat – optional
How to make a jelly bean oobleck Easter sensory bin
In your shallow container, add cornstarch and water in a 2:1 ratio. Examples:
- 2 cups cornstarch + 1 cup water
- 4 cups cornstarch + 2 cups water
- 6 cups cornstarch + 3 cups water
Note: To make your oobleck colorful, add a splash of liquid watercolors or food coloring to your water.
Mix the cornstarch and water until combined. You can mix with a spoon, your hands, or a combination of the two (I prefer mixing with my hands).
You’ll know you’ve reached the right consistency when you can mold it into a ball, but when you let go, it oozes through your fingers.
Toss in your jelly beans and scooping materials, and have fun mixing, playing, scooping, and learning.
Will jelly beans dissolve in water?
Okay, this is the best part.
When you add in your jelly beans, nothing happens to them at first. They keep their color and shape, and they’re just a fun, interactive thing to play with.
BUT THEN, they start to dissolve.
The water from the oobleck begins to break down the jelly bean’s outer layer, and the colors of the jelly beans start to spread into the oobleck.
As your child continues to play, the colors will mix and interact, adding a whole new layer of science learning to the activity.
This is a one-day activity
Because the jelly beans dissolve in the oobleck, this can’t be saved to use for more than one day.
If you want to use your oobleck for a few days (which you can!), save the jelly beans for the last day.
Guess how we learned this? 😂
How do you clean up the jelly bean oobleck Easter sensory bin?
We have the EASIEST method for cleaning oobleck: let it dry out.
Scraping and cleaning wet oobleck is possible, but it takes time, effort, and water.
Instead, we leave our container outside, and once it’s completely dry, it crumbles into large, dry chunks and goes straight into the garbage can.
💡 Teacher Tip: Do not rinse your container of oobleck down your kitchen drain, as it can cause a blockage. Instead, dispose of it in a garbage can first (wet or dry), then you can rinse your container in the sink.
Oodles of oobleck ideas
We love, love, love oobleck and we hope you will, too.
Try some of these other kid-approved oobleck activities:
Frequently Asked Questions
Any that safely use the materials. Technically the ingredients can be made entirely taste-safe, but this shouldn’t be eaten and adult supervision is required.
It depends (but nothing is permanent). You can always start with a very small amount of liquid watercolors or food dye and then add more as needed. Note that straight liquid watercolors and food dye both dye hands temporarily, with liquid watercolors coming out much quicker than food dye. If you’re concerned about hands getting temporarily colored, you can also do this project without any additional coloring.
We let them eat one or two before we begin. This takes away the temptation and makes it feel less forbidden.
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