There’s something so fun and gratifying about squeezing and stretching a ball of slime. It’s not quite solid and yet not liquid either. It’s sticky and soft, pliable, and bouncy. It’s the perfect sensory play thing for kids (and adults) of all ages. Slime comes together in minutes with a handful of common household items.
For smaller kids, this is a simple activity where you can focus on the basics of following a recipe. It’s perfect for practicing measuring, pouring, and mixing. Dive into the science behind the chemical changes happening with older elementary-age children. Have fun and get your hands messy alongside your kids. Squeezing a handful of slime is satisfying for all ages.
Supplies Needed
There are just a few items needed to make slime at home. Some you may already have, and the rest are readily available at most major grocery stores. As an added bonus, you’ll be able to make this recipe over and over again with the supplies from just one purchase. Here’s what you’ll need:
- ½ cup of Elmer’s glue: You can buy the typical school-sized bottle, or go ahead and buy the big gallon jug. It will last for years and enable you to make many batches of slime in addition to countless other crafts.
- ½ cup of shaving cream: any brand is fine, but you want the kind that foams up–not a gel.
- 1 tsp of Borax: Borax is a powdered laundry detergent that comes in a box. You can find it in the laundry aisle at most major grocery stores and Target.
- 3 colors of food coloring: gel works a little better, but the liquid kind is just fine.
- 1 cup of water: warm from the tap helps dissolve the Borax quicker
- Medium-sized bowl
- Teaspoon
- Spoon for stirring
- Paper towels or an old rag that you don’t mind getting stained/messy
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Instructions
- Measure 1 cup of warm water and stir in 1 tsp of Borax. Mix until the Borax is dissolved. Set aside for now.
- Pour ½ cup of glue into your bowl. Add ½ cup of shaving cream (eyeballing it is fine). Mix together.
- Add one teaspoon of the Borax solution to your glue mixture and stir. Keep adding the Borax solution one teaspoon at a time and mixing until the glue starts to come together and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Once the slime has clumped together in the bowl, dump it onto a clean work surface and knead with your hands. If it’s very sticky, dip your fingers in the remaining Borax water and work that into the slime. As you knead, it will become less sticky. The right consistency is when the slime sticks to your hands, but readily peels away when you pull on it.
- Divide your slime into three piles about the same size. Add a couple of drops of food coloring to each. Fold the slime over so the dye is inside the blob and knead until the color is well distributed. The dye should stay on the slime and not stain hands, but no guarantees! Repeat this process for all three piles.
- Stretch, knead, and squeeze your slime. You can blend your colors together but note that, like play-dough, you can’t separate them again. Eventually, they will merge into one singular color. If you want to mix your colors together when playing, it’s recommended to use colors in the same family (pink, orange, and yellow) or use primary and secondary color equations (yellow + blue = green) to ensure a less murky end result.
- Store your slime in an airtight container and it will last for weeks. Slime will stick to fabrics and loves to eat dust and crumbs, so it’s best to play with on a hard, clean surface. Note: the fluffiness of your slime will fade with time and handling, but the slime will still be fun to play with.
