What's Soft Like a Liquid But Holds Together Like a Solid?

A sweet new friend of my kiddos has introduced them to a new habit.... I say habit because they are COMPLETELY obsessed with making this substance. It's called Slime! It's like that stuff you buy in gum-ball machine little plastic containers that you later find in your kid's hair or streaked across your couch. That's right. That stuff. LOL. But seriously, with a little supervision and direction, it can provide an endless source of entertainment for your kiddos! Strangely enough, we also found this same basic recipe in our super awesome "101 Coolest Simple Science Experiments"book, page 52!

Ok, here is our ingredient shot!

Liquid Starch (laundry aisle), White Glue (Elmer's is best, but we are in Panama so it's a little harder to find sometimes), and food coloring. My kiddos wanted to use a water based black paint for this one, but decided food coloring is better!

Step 1: Dump your glue into a bowl, any bowl will do. (see below)

Step 2: Add your coloring. Start with a few drops and keep going until you have a color you like.

Step 3: Begin adding the liquid starch about 1/4 cup at a time and mix thoroughly. You will see that it will begin to stick to the utensil you are using to stir it with. It will get thicker, and stretchy. We end up adding about equal parts starch to glue, but it can vary a little bit depending on how you prefer the texture! One of my kiddos like it extra slimey and sticky.. and the other likes it more firm and stretchy! It's all up to you!

My son was trying to demonstrate the stretchy quality it was starting to take on!

All thickened up, now he just needed to really work it with his hands to get it nice and stretchy.

My daughter thought we should show you another batch they had made with their friend that was really thick and stretchy, they added sand to it so you can hopefully see the texture in it here.

It also makes a great stress reliever!!

Important part**

If you want to insert a little school into the mix, you can talk about a few fancy terms. I loved the questions and interesting science the book offers! The first is the fact that slime is a colloid, or a substance that is evenly dispersed through another substance. After you make it... ask your kids, "Is it a solid or is it a liquid? It has characteristics of both a solid and a liquid! Leave it sit in a small container and it will take the shape of that container. But take it out and start applying stress to it, and it takes on a more solid type state. It is a "non-Newtonian fluid!" And what is that term "Newtonian" mean anyway? Google it with your kiddos and really get into science!! What might happen if you add more starch? Glue? Sand? Glitter? Glow in the dark paint? Woo-hoo, now you're having FUN!

OH.. even more important! This project was rated at 5 (highest) on the mess factor meter. If you do get this on clothes or something you aren't supposed to, use a little white vinegar and it takes it right out! I even forgot to do the vinegar on my 7 year old's dress last week (looked like she had been attacked by the purple slime monster), and it came completely clean in a warm water wash, so my laundry detergent handled it.

Ask these questions to your kiddos and find out the answers together! Trust me, you'll be the coolest mom in town!

Hope everyone is having a marvelous weekend! I'm off to take a nap!! {{Insert Relaxation Here}}

-Karyn