Slime: the gift that keeps on giving! Here’s the slime recipe usually used by Discovery Center educators, who are truly slime experts!
Ingredients
- 2 (4 oz) bottles of washable school glue
- 1 or 2 drops liquid food coloring
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 to 3 tablespoons contact solution (saline solution)
Directions:
- Mix the food coloring and glue, then add baking soda and stir until smooth.
- Add 2 tablespoons of contact solution and stir until a ball starts to form.
- Pick up the slime and work it with your hands. Add more contact solution, if needed, to get to your desired level of sliminess.
- Put your slime in a clear zipper bag for portable slime play, or for a kids who likes slime but doesn’t like to feel sticky things!
Add in a few of the following ingredients and see what happens!
- Candy
- Glitter (pro tip: use glitter glue instead of loose glitter for less mess)
- Sequins
- Sprinkles
- Confetti
- Beads
- Plastic toys
How do kids benefit from making slime?
- They learn opposite words like gooey and solid, warm and cold, big and small, empty and full.
- They touch, squeeze, smell and feel, helping build connections in the brain.
- They see chemical reactions in action, teaching cause and effect.
- They practice using the small muscles in their hands (fine motor skills) later used for writing.
- They measure ingredients, demonstrating volume and encouraging comparisons.
- They imagine! Using symbolic thinking, they can become slime chefs, greet an alien life form, or perform slime magic!