5 Best Slime Recipes for Kids

Below are my five favorite slime recipes.  Also, a quick note:  make sure that any of the ingredients you add to your slime recipe are not going to irritate your kiddos’ skin.  It is always best to ere on the side of caution.  If your slime is too sticky, add more liquid starch.  If you slime is too runny, add more glue.  Even with precise measuring, you will most likely still have to experiment to get the desired consistency.

Fluffy Slime

1. Add 8 ounces of school glue to large bowl
2. Add 2 cups of shaving cream to glue and stir with large plastic spoon
3. Add ½ cup of liquid starch to mixture and stir
4. Once mixture starts to solidify, pick up and kneed with your hands

Glitter Slime

1. Add 8 ounces of school glue to large bowl
2. Add glitter to glue and mix with large plastic spoon
3. Add ½ cup of liquid starch to mixture and stir
4. Once mixture starts to solidify, pick up and kneed with your hands

Oobleck

1. Add ½ cup of cornstarch to a large bowl
2. Stir in ¼ cup of water to cornstarch
3. Once mixture is well-mixed, play with your hands to test how it can form a solid and also become like a liquid

Glow in the Dark Slime

1. Add 8 ounces of school glue to a large bowl
2. Add 2 tablespoons of glow in the dark paint to glue and stir with large plastic spoon
3. Add ½ cup of liquid starch to mixture and stir
4. Once mixture starts to solidify, pick up and kneed with your hands

Calming Slime

1. Add 8 ounces of school glue to large bowl
2. Add ½ cup of liquid starch to mixture and stir
3. Add 2-3 drops of lavender essential oil to mixture and stir
4. Once mixture starts to solidify, pick up and kneed with your hands

Slime is great and fun, but why should you let your kiddos play with slime?  Is there any benefit, or are they just going to be holed up in their room playing with weird goopy stuff?  Making and playing with slime can have great benefits.

Why Kids Should Play with Slime

1. Bonding time with your kiddo – Any time you do a creative activity with your kids it strengthens your bond. Exploring a new recipe together, even if it isn’t edible, creates a strong memory. Plus, you get to show your child that you are interested in something that they care about. 
2. STEM – While you are making slime and bonding with your kiddo you can also talk to them about the science behind slime. You can use yummy words like molecules, polymers, reactions, viscosity.  Slime is a non-newtonian fluid, which means that it is neither a liquid or a solid.  How cool is that?!
3. Sensory Exploration – Playing with slime is great for the senses! Kiddos can touch, smell, see, and hear slime.  Adding essential oils to your slime creates a smell experience that can be pleasing or disgusting based on the scent you choose. Seeing how the slime flows through your hands or sticks to your fingers can be intriguing or alarming.  When kiddos play with slime it often forms air bubbles that make a popping sound when they burst.  The one sense that I would not recommend engaging would be sense of taste.  Licking the slime is not recommended, and would most likely result in illness. (Slime: how to develop fine motor skills for preschoolers)
4. Stress Relief – Having something to do with your hands, much like the fidget spinner craze, can relieve stress and anxiety. Add in a calming scent like lavender or spearmint, and you are good to go.

It seems as if the slime craze is here to stay.  Embrace the mess, and reap the hidden benefits.  Just don’t forget the two best reasons to make slime with your kids: getting to spend quality bonding time with your kiddo, and it is FUN!