My three-year-old has developed a fascination for slime and lately we have been going through tons of the stuff. In fact, to my despair, there’s slime in nearly every nook and cranny in my home, it’s an infestation of gooeyness! But, like always, I entertain my son and I take advantage of the things that fascinate him and try to turn the play into something casual and educational. So, this week we brought out the scientists in us once again and headed off to the lab (aka mom’s kitchen) to mix up our very own slimy and flubbery potion!
My little dude was so excited to make his own slime that we skipped tea time to “get to it”. I had just been to the shops to pick up the necessary ingredients, so we were all good to go. The materials and ingredients are super basic, and super affordable, so you really can make this a regular activity with your kids.
Here's what you will need:
- White craft glue (or you can use clear glue too, for a more transparent slime)
- Food colouring (we chose blue, like always)
- Water
- Borax
Time to get gooey!
The steps are super simple, all you need to do is:
- Mix a quarter cup of glue with half a cup of water.
- Add your food colouring and mix well.
- In a separate cup or beaker, mix 4 tablespoons of Borax with a quarter cup of water. Mix until the Borax is completely dissolved.
- Add the Borax mixture to the glue mixture a little at a time, stirring until you are happy with the consistency (we went with a more flubbery slime this time around).
So, What Is Slime Actually?
Slime is called a "non-Newtonian fluid.” A scientist, Isaac Newton (1642-1727) did a ton of work with mathematics, gravity, motion, and fluids. The thickness of fluids is called "viscosity,” the more viscous a substance is, the slower it flows. A good example is slime or something you probably have a home, ketchup. Ketchup is more viscous than water, and peanut butter is more viscous than ketchup. Newton noted that the thickness of fluids and how fast a fluid would flow were affected by its temperature. When a substance is heated, it tends to be less viscous, like ice cream that's been out of the freezer too long, and if a substance like ice cream is cooled, it becomes more viscous. Because slime doesn't react to hot or cold like water or ice cream does, it's considered "non-Newtonian" because its viscosity can be changed by squeezing, stirring, adding pressure, and more! - https://slimemaking.com/how-does-slime-work/
Of course, the above explanation was way to advanced for my three-year-old, I stuck to the explanation that the ingredients made a reaction when they mixed together, and they liquid and solid ingredients made a new “in between” product, which we call slime!
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/slime-science-how-it-works-608232
Once you’ve made your gloop, be sure to store it in an air-tight container, or a Ziplock bag, so that it doesn’t dry out. On a rainy day or when your kids are in a fidgety mood, bring out the slime to keep those busy little fingers active and work those fine motor skills. Playing with slime is also a type of sensory play: ad scent to your slime for smell, feel it with your fingers, listen to it splutter on a surface, watch it stretch and as for tasting, well, I don’t recommend that!
Much love -
