Halloween Project: Slime Three Ways

Maybe I just never grew up, but I LOVE making homemade play doh/ gak/ flubber/ slime and all variations on this theme with children. There is such instant gratification in mixing a few ingredients into a bowl, playing with food coloring, and seeing it transform into a malleable concoction. To pass yesterday's rainy afternoon, I decided with Halloween coming, it was obviously time to make some slime. I found a new recipe on Pinterest-here's the one we made yesterday, followed by two other cool slime recipes. Rowan played with her slime at the kitchen table for about an hour (AWESOME) and when we put it in the jar she insisted we keep playing with it--so we played hide and seek the jar of slime. When you find the jar of slime hidden in the house you have to act surprised and grossed out. See?! Endless, cheap entertainment!

1. "Homemade Slime" (recipe fromOur Best Bites blog)

Recipe:

1 teaspoon borax powder

1 1/2 C water, divided

4 oz (1/2 C)  Elmer’s glue, clear or white

food coloring

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.

2. Cornstarch Goo

Another favorite slimy concoction we like to make is the cornstarch variety....it's simply cornstarch and water mixed together. All you do is pour a box of cornstarch into a mixing bowl, then add a cup of water give or take (depending on how dry it's seeming), and then a few drops of food coloring if you want it colored. Mix with your fingers until it becomes hard to mix. The best thing about cornstarch and water is that is both a liquid and a solid at the same time so when it's under pressure it will seem more solid (like when you roll it into a ball or whack it on the table) but as soon as you let it rest in your hands, it will become liquid again and drip off your hands back down into the bowl. It's pretty entrancing. One very important thing to note: DON'T EVER POUR IT DOWN YOUR SINK DRAIN...JUST THROW IT IN THE TRASH WHEN YOU'RE DONE. Here's a sort of awkward video of a man demonstrating this amazing goop to a weather lady on a morning news show if you want to see what it's like:

3. Glow in the Dark Slime

If you want to go the extra mile, you can make glow in the dark slime, which I'm sure will knock your kid's socks off. However, I don't know much about glow-in-the-dark paint so I can't vouch for it's safety, but it looks pretty fun. This one is on my to-do list.

Here's a link to instructions:

Domestic Charm blog

Happy slime time!