Have some fun, messy play with this sandy oobleck recipe! It has such a fun texture and is perfect for imaginative play. We used ours in an ooey-gooey dinosaur world! (You can find the recipe for our sandy oobleck at the end of this post.)

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Although it’s fall, we are in a major heatwave right now. I may not be a fan of intensely hot sun, but why not make the most of it by having some fun messy play! Theo and I grabbed a couple of ingredients and made some sandy oobleck to play with outside! (This post contains affiliate links.) 

Theo has caught the dinosaur bug so we thought our sandy oobleck would be perfect to use in a dinosaur world. We dumped our oobleck into a tray, grabbed some dinosaurs, and headed outside for some fun! 

Playing with Our Sandy Oobleck Dinosaur World

At first Theo was super interested in the sensory aspect of the sandy oobleck. He picked some up and let it fall from his hands…

… and then he dug those hands right into the tray! 

 He had fun covering his dinosaurs with the sandy oobleck. At first the oobleck seemed solid and looked like stone, and then suddenly it seemed to liquify and run off the dinosaur.

Theo loved watching the oobleck slowly drip off the dinosaurs!

Then it was finally time for some dinosaur imaginative play!

When Theo was all dinosaured out, we left the sandy oobleck outside in the sun. Once Lucy got home from school, Theo rushed out back to show her the dinosaur world. It had begun to dry out by then, and Lucy was super excited to discover some of the dinosaurs had left fossil-like imprints! The kids decided to add more water to the dinosaur world to soften the sandy oobleck and then played some more!

How to Make Sandy Oobleck

• 2 cups corn starch
• 2 cups sand ( We used craft sand.)
• 1 cup water

This is the perfect play recipe for kids to help make!

1. Mix the corn starch and sand together in a large container. (The sand can be abrasive so don’t use any nice bowls or dishes.)

2. Slowly add the cup of water and stir. Once it gets too hard to stir with a spoon, you have to get your hands in there to mush it around. 

You should be able to lift up a chunk that seems solid and watch it melt right out of your hand. If your mixture is too dry, slowly add small amounts of water to it. If it’s too runny, add a bit more cornstarch.

We used some inexpensive toy dinosaurs in our sandy oobleck world, but you could add just about anything. Next we’re planning on adding little toy construction trucks!

Be sure to check out these other small worlds on Buggy and Buddy:

• Winter Wonderland Small World Play
• Pumpkin Patch Small World Play
• Rocky Shore Small World with Ocean Playdough