It’s alive! This cornstarch slime is a fun twist on the classic oobleck recipe or cornstarch and water experiment. This electric cornstarch experiment is perfect as an experiment to demonstrate the power of attraction (between charged particles that is!) You just need 2 ingredients from your pantry and a couple of basic household ingredients to do this slime-y science experiment.
Making Jumping Goop For Science
Our Electric Cornstarch Experiment is a fun example of static electricity at work. We love simple physics experiments and have been exploring science for kindergarten, preschool, and early elementary for 10 years now
Grab some cornstarch and oil, and let’s find out what happens when you mix them with a charged balloon! Can you make your cornstarch slime jump toward the balloon? Make sure to read up on the science behind the experiment too!
Check out our list of easy static electricity experiments.
Cornstarch Experiment
Note: This is a slightly different recipe than our classic oobleck recipe. You can also set this experiment up with a balloon and water.
Supplies:
- Three tablespoons cornstarch
- Vegetable oil
- Balloon
- Spoon
Instructions:
STEP 1. Add 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to a plastic cup or bowl.
STEP 2. Slowly add vegetable oil to the cornstarch, stirring until the consistency is that of a pancake mix.
STEP 3. Blow the balloon up partially and tie it off. Rub against your hair to create static electricity.
STEP 4. Move the charged balloon towards a spoonful of the dripping cornstarch and oil mixture. Watch what happens!
The cornstarch will pull itself towards the balloon; it may even defy gravity and arch upward to meet it. Move the cornstarch toward a part of the balloon that is not charged. What happens now?
How Does It Work?
When you rub the balloon on a rough surface like your hair you give it additional electrons. These new electrons generate a negative static charge. On the other hand, the cornstarch and oil mixture, being a non-Newtonian fluid (neither a liquid or a solid) has a neutral charge.
When an object has a negative charge, it will repel the electrons of other objects and attract that object’s protons.
When the neutrally charged object is light enough, like the dripping cornstarch, the negatively charged object will attract the lightweight object. Dripping the cornstarch means it is easier for it to swing towards the balloon.
Turn It Into A Cornstarch Science Project
Science projects are an excellent tool for older kiddos to show what they know about science! Plus, they can be used in various environments including classrooms, homeschool, and groups.
Kids can take everything they have learned about using the scientific method, stating a hypothesis, choosing variables, making observations and analyzing and presenting data.
Want to turn this experiment into an awesome science fair project? Check out these helpful resources.
Helpful Science Resources To Get You Started
Here are a few resources that will help you introduce science more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident yourself when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.
- Best Science Practices (as it relates to the scientific method)
- Science Vocabulary
- 8 Science Books for Kids
- All About Scientists
- Free Science Worksheets
- Science Supplies List
- Science Tools for Kids
- Join us in the Club
Explore More Static Electricity with Balloons
- Static Charge Attraction: Use a charged balloon to pick up small pieces of paper or confetti by attracting them.
- Balloon Wall Sticking: Rub a balloon against a wall and see it stick due to static charge buildup.
- Bending Water: Bend a stream of water with a charged balloon!
- Butterfly Experiment – Use static electricity to make a butterfly’s wings move without touching them!
- Rolling Can Experiment – Use to static electricity to roll a can without touching it.
- Lightning Investigation: Explore how static electricity in clouds leads to lightning.
Kids can take everything they have learned about using the scientific method, stating a hypothesis, choosing variables, making observations, and analyzing and presenting data.
Printable Science Projects For Kids
If you’re looking to grab all of our printable science projects in one convenient place plus exclusive worksheets and bonuses like a STEAM Project pack, our Science Project Pack is what you need! Over 300+ Pages!
- 90+ classic science activities with journal pages, supply lists, set up and process, and science information. NEW! Activity-specific observation pages!
- Best science practices posters and our original science method process folders for extra alternatives!
- Be a Collector activities pack introduces kids to the world of making collections through the eyes of a scientist. What will they collect first?
- Know the Words Science vocabulary pack includes flashcards, crosswords, and word searches that illuminate keywords in the experiments!
- My science journal writing prompts explore what it means to be a scientist!!
- Bonus STEAM Project Pack: Art meets science with doable projects!
- Bonus Quick Grab Packs for Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics
