Slime Making 101

Making slime is all the rage these days. It’s one of the easiest and least expensive science experiments for school aged kids that I’ve seen. My 10-year-old son came home with a list of 3 supplies for a school project and created it all on his own. What more could you ask for?! Today I now have more containers of slime in our house than I could have ever wanted.

There are several different recipes for making slime, so we literally did the dirty work for you and tested out a few to give you our thumbs up or thumbs down on the slime-making.

All recipes you will need at least one bowl, spatula or spoon and measuring spoons or cups.

Elmer’s Glue Slime Recipe

Elmer’s white school glue – 1 bottle
Baking soda 1 1/2 TBSP
Contact solution 3TBSP
Food coloring (optional)

  1. Empty bottle of glue into bowl
  2. Mix baking soda with glue
  3. Add food coloring until desired color is made
  4. Add in contact solution
  5. Knead until consistency is met

Kid Approval Rating: This was our least favorite slime. The consistency was very solid and didn’t have much stretch to it.

1 out of 4 slime balls

Simple Slime

White school glue – 1 oz glue (about 1/4 of the bottle)
Borax – 1/4 c
Food Coloring (optional)
Water – 1/4 c

  1. In one bowl mix glue and water
  2. Add food coloring
  3. Add Borax to the glue and water mixture and stir slowly
  4. Knead with hands until it gets less sticky

Kid Approval: This slime had really great consistency, and didn’t stick to our hands at all. If we hadn’t found a recipe for slime that could be fluffy and extra stretchy this would have been our favorite.

3 out of 4 slime balls

Beth’s Fluffy Slime

(this is a friend’s recipe that she and her daughters perfected) 
Water – 1/2 C
Borax – 1/2 tsp
White glue – 1/2 C
Shaving cream – 1/2 C
Baby Oil – A few squirts
Food Coloring (optional)
Glitter (optional)

  1. Pour glue in bowl
  2. Mix water with borax and dissolve
  3. Slowly stir in the mixture with the glue (about 1 TBSP at a time)
  4. Once it becomes a slimy consistency knead it with your hands. Add additional borax mixture until you get the consistency you want.
  5. Add in shaving cream to make it fluffy and baby oil to make it stretchy
  6. Once you have desired consistency add in food coloring and glitter

Kid Approval: This slime was definitely the favorite! We may be biased since it’s my friend’s recipe, but this one had the best consistency. It did stick to their hands but it also had extra stretch so that made it extra fun!

4 out of 4 slime balls

Tips & Tricks:
– The best place to store slime is in plastic containers with a lid or Ziploc bags.
– If you don’t want to mess with glitter and/or food coloring try out the different colored glue found in most retail stores.

Overall the kids really like to make slime, no matter the consistency, size, shape or color. Make sure your kids aren’t wearing their Sunday best because slime making can get messy. This is easily something you can throw together on a rainy day and if it’s not raining throw them outside at a table and let them create.

Do you have a fail-proof slime recipe?

Kendra Fernandez
Kendra lives in Derby with her husband Leonard and her two boys- Leo and Jacoby. She works in downtown Wichita but spends most of the rest of her waking hours wrangling two crazy boys. You will more than likely find them at a game or practice. Besides spending time with her family Kendra loves to read and watch Game of Thrones, HGTV marathons and the Royals! She is also very active in PTO at her sons' school and is always trying to find ways to interact with other parents.