It’s Slime Time

Unless you have children or grandchildren, or have been in a craft store recently, you may not know what the latest craze is with kids…..it’s SLIME 🙂 You may be asking yourself just exactly what “slime” is, after all it doesn’t sound so good right?  Well, it is a gooey, stretchy, compound that once you’ve picked it up and handled it, you find it hard to put it down.  There is something both soothing and satisfying about the texture and feel of this compound that appeals to kids of all ages (and adults too).  As a matter of fact, it is truly the rage with kids.  And it’s not just about playing with it, or handling it, but making it as well.  If your children or grandchildren happen to be on Spring break, or if you need a fun activity to do with those young ones of yours, we’ve got just the thing.

With some simple white glue, shaving cream, hand lotion and a little bit of Borax in some water, you can make a ball of fun that keeps your children occupied for a long, long time.  But a word to the wise, get to your craft store or office supply store soon. Apparently white school glue is out of stock all over town, flying off the shelves, and even at some places online.  This fad has caused a windfall for Elmers!

Fun activities that create memories and good times with your children is truly a recipe for love, joy and abundant living 🙂

We tried a number of “recipes” but ended up combining several different ingredients in different recipes to come up with this one. Making this slime is a good opportunity to talk with your children about “chemistry”.  As they mix the ingredients they can visibly see the chemical reaction that causes the liquid to become a “solid”.  It’s a great way to help children see that science is not just an isolated subject but a part of everyday life and can be really fun. Adding the hand lotion makes your end product feel good as well as smell good.  Be sure you pick one that has a fragrance you like.  Most of these ingredients can be found at the 99 cent store or Dollar Tree.

Simple Slime

1 cup of white glue
1 cup warm water
2-3 tablespoons hand lotion
1/2 – 3/4  cup shaving cream (approximately)
A few squeezes of acrylic paint
Borax solution – 1/2 teaspoon borax dissolved in 1/2 cup of water

Place the glue in a bowl and add the water, lotion, shaving cream, and paint.  Stir to combine.  Once the color is evenly distributed, add about 2 tablespoons of the borax solution and stir again.  You will need to stir for several seconds as the borax begins to work it’s magic and the goo begins to become slime.  If it is still too runny, add more borax solution about 1 tablespoon at a time, until the consistency is soft but holds together like a very soft dough.  If at any point you have added too much borax and the compound becomes too stiff, add some hot water and a squirt of lotion and work it in the dough until it softens again.  This could take several minutes and will seem like it isn’t ever coming together again, but be patient, it will smooth out.  If necessary add a bit more warm water.

The tactile experience of this compound is very soothing and calming to little hands.  When you….or your child…is through playing with your slime, store it in an airtight container or Ziploc bag.  Be warned…Unsupervised this can become messy.  Should you or your child get the slime on your clothes while making it or playing with it, simply put some straight white vinegar on the effected area and rub lightly.  The slime will come right off.  But the memory of the fun you’ve had will “stick” 🙂