September is in full swing and we thought we’d celebrate by doing Back-to-School week! My oldest kiddo just started pre-school and Kate is now the mother to an official kindergartner. This week we’re going to have *five* posts. Hear that? A post every single day of the week you lucky duckies. So make sure to check in! Kate is going to be sharing some great breakfast and school lunch foods (something we’ve gotten tons of requests for) and I’m going to do some really fun kitchen crafts/science projects that are great for entertaining young hands and minds. Which brings me to today’s post.
Do you guys remember this??
I was so obsessed with that stuff and I totally remember the commercials. When I made this homemade version I couldn’t believe that it had the exact same smell. Took me right back to 6th grade!
If you’ve ventured into science fun like this before then you already know that 97% of home projects require the same 2 ingredients. Elmer’s glue and borax. In fact, I’m convinced if I combine them in enough different ways I’m sure to come up with then next earth-shattering invention like velcro, post-it notes or spray cheese.
Start by dissolving a teaspoon of Borax in one cup of water and set it aside.
Now pour the Elmer’s glue in a separate bowl. You can use either clear glue or white glue for this. For this first batch I’m using clear.
Add some water to that glue
and then stir in some food coloring. I think green is quite fitting for slime, don’t you?
Once that’s all stirred up, just pour your Borax mix into the bowl. You will instantly see masses forming in there. Straight out of an alien movie I tell ya. Or a science book. I know there’s some science-y explanation for the magical formation of slime, but I couldn’t tell ya. Something about polymers…man I used to be really awesome at chemistry. Now I just make really awesome cookies. I think cookies are way more useful as an overall life skill.
See? Say it with me: ewwwww! You just want to use your hands at this point and just kind of stir and smoosh and try to get all of the solids.
It will be wet and soft at first but you just have to keep kneading it. The moisture will knead out or absorb (just toss the liquid left in the bowl) and soon you’ll have a nice blob. Normally a finished product resulting in a “blob” is not a good thing, but this is an exception. Love your blob.
I have to say I actually prefer the white glue. I don’t know why, it just seemed to have a nice texture (you know, because I’m such a connoisseur of slimy blobs). This time I enlisted my only favorite helpers. This is a fun project for kids, just supervise and make sure they’re old enough to understand it’s not something to eat.
Older kids can help measure and stir and younger ones can stand and protest that they don’t get to. And then try to eat the science experiment. It’s all about the family fun.
This is their favorite part. Both of my kids said in unison, “Ahhhhh!! There’s something in there!”
This is a good picture of what you’ll get when you first try to grab it. You might think you messed up because it’s so loose. Just keep smooshing!
And soon it will look like this. Nice and smooth and dry to the touch.
It only takes minutes to make and your kids will think you’re awesome. And it will totally keep them busy for at least 3.5 minutes. Hopefully even more if your kids have longer attention spans than mine do.
What kid doesn’t like to squish slimy things?? Even *I* love playing with this stuff!
Homemade Slime
Your kids will have so much fun in the kitchen with this homemade slime!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon borax powder
- 1 1/2 C water divided
- 4 oz 1/2 C Elmer's glue, clear or white
- food coloring
Instructions
- Add borax powder to 1 cup of water and stir to dissolve. Set aside. Pour glue into a medium mixing bowl and add 1/2 C water. Add a few drops of food coloring until desired color is reached and then stir to mix glue solution until smooth.
- Pour the borax mixture into the glue mixture and watch the solids start to form. Stir for a few moments and then use your hands to gather the mass. The mixture will be very soft and wet.
- Keep kneading until it firms up and feels dry. Discard excess liquid in bowl. The more you knead and play with the slime the firmer it will become. Store in a ziplock bag or air tight container and the slime will keep indefinitely.
Notes
- *Note: that this is not a recipe for human consumption. It is for play purposes only. Make sure to supervise young children.
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
Questions & Reviews
I couldn’t believe how well this worked! I just made this for my nieces for Christmas and made the clear kind in dark blue and purple with snow glitter inside~it turned out so pretty and jewel-like! lol Who knew slime could merit that reaction? haha Thank you!
In regards to the safety of it – ITS CALLED ADULT SUPERVISION!!!!! thats all it takes peopke.
About the “toxic borax” comment from someone, I would disregard, as my guess is that Borax would only be toxic if ingested in large doses. Borax is basically Boron which is in many vitamin supplements. I take a very small amount of Borax each day as a supplement for my arthritis, and it really helps me. I’m not dead yet 😉
Random fact:
If you put all of said ingredients into a Rubbermaid with a lid (or Tupperwear, or old sippy cup, etc) and shake it (for something like ten minutes), you will get a nice lovely round ball of the Gak-substance. Without ever having to touch it yourself.
Which is wonderful, because I *hate* the way the stuff feels.
Thanks for sharing! I have three grandkids coming for a visit this weekend (6, 8 & 10), I think they will think they have a cool Nana for letting them make this!
I made this stuff once when I was in school, except that my teacher called it flubber. Either or, I loved it. Thanks for posting the recipe.
This was fun. Thanks!
Just made this with my grandkids, they had a blast. they are 8 and 5 so much fun we will do it again. thank you for posting it.
your boys’ faces are fantastic! looks like great fun- will have to try it 🙂
I had a student put in their hair, some how we tried vinegar and it came out easily. Love this stuff. Try putting it in a strawberry basket and hand basket up above table. It comes down so cool. Then you can cut with scissors .
A big hit this morning with my preschoolers! Super easy to make and easy to clean up the project mess too. It’s look like it will hold their attention for about 20min.
Hey, 20 minutes for preschoolers is like 4 hours in real time, haha. Awesome!
I was thinking the same thing lol
I made this and had the same problem Kate did, my fingers ended up stained blue from the food coloring.. I ended up having to make a plain boring white batch because my stepson’s mom would have flipped had I sent him home with blue hands!! Any tips on coloring the putty and not your hands?
That’s so weird! it’s never happened to me. Maybe a little too much was added, or it is the brand you used? I’ve never had it dye my hands; I just use a drop or two, which just simply isn’t enough to do anything but color the putty.
Hi all,just hopped across this website and am so excited.I have 2 boys age 6 and 5 and a little girl age 3.They would love this but i am in Ireland and have never heard of Borax! Can anybody tell me what it is? Thanks x
Julie, it’s a type of soap sold here in the states. It’s the exact composition that makes it work for a lot of science projects like this so I don’t know of a substitute. But you could certainly find it online. It’s just a product used for home cleaning.
You can use an eye wash solution instead of borax if you can’t find it (I believe it’s banned in the UK,) as long as it contains boric acid and sodium borate. So optrex is a good one.
.. I really would like to try it.. can someone please report what is written on the label of this elmer’s glue? I am in Italy and not very talented in science matters… I would like to be sure of what I am mixing.. thankyou!
LOVE IT! Thanks I can’t wait to make this for the kids 🙂
I LOVED THIS…..made a practice batch this afternoon and will be making it with my grandchildren(ages 3 and 4) when they come to visit next weekend. We will probably make green for him and pink for her!! I can’t wait. I think even Papa will get into making this with us.
Just have to tell you what a success this has been!! I bought the glue for 20 cents per bottle at the back to school sale, already had the borax. We’ve made 5 different colors and it has kept them occupied for going on 2 hours and they’re still having fun! Where else can you get 2 hours of fun for a buck? THANK YOU!!
I was so excited to make this! The directions looked so simple,however, I must have done something wrong because mine came out like very thick soup. I must have kneaded it for a good 30 minutes and still couldn’t get it thicker. I couldn’t even let my son play with it as it was to watery and caused a huge mess..I think I am going to try again though and make sure I am following the directions step for step!
Wow! I first found this on Pinterest and it caught my eye. I’m a mom to 2 boys aged 4 & 5 who absolutely love anything ‘gross’. I’m also a daycare provider and we love ideas that break up the routine a little – especially towards the end of a very long summer! Thanks! We made 2 batches – one was overly gooey, one was a little tough – but regardless, it’s been keeping the crew entertained for a good half hour and they’re still giggling over the mess! (Just a note, I always throw paint shirts on the kids when we’re working with anything messy – including food colouring.)
I don’t want to be a downer (and I’m truly thinking of doing this with my toddler) but I keep reading conflicting information on the safety of borax. The info is so conflicting I’ve decided against making our own laundry detergent with it.
Does anyone have any better info than the mess of confusion on google?
I just looked on wikipedia. It says that it takes a large amount of borax to cause severe symptoms or death, and that amout varies from person to person. Infants are usually the most sensitive to the effects of it.
I think that as long as you don’t let an infant play with it, and as long as your children don’t get into a HUGE box of it and play around with it, it will be just fine. And for this you are only using a teaspoon, so it’s not going to cause any problems. Just keep an eye out for “beefy red” (that’s what the article called it) rashes…if you see that then take it away. The rashes just mean that your child is sensitive to borax.
I have used this for years. My sons are now in college. One of the best “tools” to add to slime is STRAWS!! Put the slime on a tray, pat the slime around the bottom of the slime and then blow!!! It’s makes fabulous slime bubbles.
I haven’t tried it with slime yet. I need to make a store run for Borax. But I have begun using washable liquid watercolors in place of food coloring. They are a little expensive and hard to find, but a little goes a long way. I bought a small six pack through Rainbow Resources dot com. I think it cost a little less then ten dollars. I use them wisely and they have lasted one year and I still have a bunch left. Just thought I would share to take care of the staining issues. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! My son and I going to make some now 🙂
just found your blog…can’t wait to try this with my three boys. My two younger boys are one and three and they look ALOT like your two in the photos – wierd!
The chemistry: Elmer’s glue is made of polymers. The borate ions from borax crosslink the polymers. This means that the BO4- ions are attracted to the hydroxyl (OH-) groups on the polymers, which basically connects them together, increasing the viscosity. A similar concept is actually used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) systems in the gas wells in Pennsylvania.
THANK YOU!! I love to show the science behind the fun! This was a fun Experiment that I did for 9th graders and they LOVED it!! The problem solving that came about when some didn’t work out well, was a great learning experience too!
Just wondering if you can get Elmers glue in Australia? I have never seen that brand but we have lots of other white PVA glue is that the same? Also how long can you keep the slime for? Thanks
I’m not sure Heidi, Elmers is just a standard brand here in the states. You’ll have to experiment with others. And honestly, I’m not sure how long it lasts, I’ve never really stored it long term. If it’s in a zip-top bag it will definitely last a week or two but I usually end up tossing it after that so I’m not sure how much longer it stays good.
They last at least a year if in a container I have tried!!????
Heidi, I’m in Australia too and I made 2 batches of slime this morning with plain ‘no-name’ type PVA wood glue from the cheap shop. Worked great!
Heidi: we found it at OfficeWorks. But the clear Clag works too.
I’ve made this before, but never with the clear glue…what a fun difference that makes! Thanks!
Just made this for my classroom. Me thinks a science project is in the works! I used Wilton Gel Color and my hands turned Smurfy blue. I just added a tiny bit of the borax to my hands and it came right off. Thanks for the recipe!
I just pinned your green glob of goo. I love how you do such fun things with your boys! I can’t wait to share this with my grown son. So he can share it will his daughter.
WEll we tried it twice and both time it didn’t come out right but I think it is because we used Elmer’s Clear GEL glue. I’ll have to buy the white kind and go with that. Also if you don’t want it to stain anything (because of the food coloring) just don’t add color.
Love it! Just made our second batch in a gorgeous blue…but it’s getting all over our skin (the blue dye)…any tips? Btw – this makes a great ‘pool’ for tiny plastic animals 🙂
Lol, I’m not sure Kate, I’ve never had it dye my hands before! You must have some really good food coloring 🙂