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
Description
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.
MAKE THAT FREAKING SLIME MAN!@#$%^&*+_
I have three-year-old daughter and I am sure that she will be in love with this idea! I will made the sticky crazy thing at home for sure! Thanks!
What amazing ideas! Thank you so much for sharing step by step the procedure! I will definitely try these at home with my two boys. Thanks a lot!
I made this with my kindergarteners today, and it was awesome! They loved it so much. Thank you!
I love this recipe <3
cool
I just featured this recipe! We had a great time making it in connection with the book Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Thanks for the recipe! My kids loved it!
Try adding a drop or two of glycerin to this. It will help with consistency (plus it makes your hands soft when you play with it!).
We are making this for Halloween this year! Thanks for the tutorial.
This did not work with glitter glue, but worked great with white glue. Perfect for a 7-year-old boy’s birthday party. Thanks!
I used glitter glue and it worked just fine …
Looks like fun.
Looks like a lot of fun! There are so many fun crafts and projects that I want to try with my son when he is a little bit older.
Hi. I’m in New Zealand and had some trouble finding Elmers glue here so tried several types of PVA, the first kinda worked, thickened up but didn’t dry out as you mentioned, still fun to play with but would break rather than stretch. Then i tried a wood pva which didn’t work at all, was just water till i added a bit more borax then went rock solid!
Finally tracked down some Elmers glue-all and this type it worked perfectly! A joy to play with and i’m glad i persevered with trying different types! I think i enjoyed it more than my toddler. 🙂 Thanks for this. 🙂
Thanks for this. Good to know. I tried it with 4 kinds of glue. Clear craft glue did nothing (it stayed like water). The two white craft glues it tried became hard like mozzarella. Not stretchy at all, you could just tear of pieces but not incorporate them again. Last on is tried was PVAC wood glue. It made just a hard plastic mass. I guess I don’t have an alternative glue and will order some elmer’s glue online because it is not sold in Europe.
love it i got to go and try this at home
loooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvveeeeeee iiiiiiiiiiittttttttt got to go and try it
How long does this last? Will it dry out?
Somebody asked how long this lasts. We use it weekly at least, store it in a plastic container in the refrigerator, and what we have is about 4 months old right now. The kids love it, and it seems to last forever…
I had to cut this out of my sons hair Christmas day… Not a huge fan!
Wish I had known about the vinegar… Two boys plus slime equals
Bottle of wine with lunch.
made this this morning and my sons been playing with it for the last hr. He realized quick that it makes great quick sand for his army figures lol
Thanks for the recipe…tried one that uses starch and it never did come together. Added a tiny bit of borax to the mixture and presto! Thanks
i did this with my friend tori we loved it it is on face book on my page
love it!!!!! how long will it last?!?