Slime, Success and Failures

Have you heard of this new trend with kids making Slime?   It is all the “rage” at my grand daughter’s school and with all their friends.   In case you are new to my blog, my granddaughters are ages 10 and 11.   So they are Elementary and Middle School age.    It reminds me of the green stuff we would get in a plastic egg when we were kids and played with.  It is basically the same stuff, just a DIY type of project.  

To be honest, they have been driving me a little bonkers wanting to constantly make it   Apparently, there are TONS of different recipes on how to do it.   In fact, my 11 year old granddaughter, Angela, has even made it at school in their science class.   

Please keep in mind, if you choose to make slime with your kids, it is a science experiment and should always include adult supervision.   There are ingredients in it, that are not safe on their own for a child to be “playing” with on their own.  Plus as you can see as you read my post here, that it has been a huge trial and error , at least it has been with us.

The 1st attempt we did at home was at the oldest granddaughters birthday party.   My 1st mistake was not looking up the “recipe” myself and taking the word of the girls that they knew how to make it.   They had told me all they needed was Elmer’s Glue, Liquid laundry soap and Shaving cream.  So I purchased all the necessary items and we proceeded to make the “slime”.  That was a small disaster…but they had a blast doing it!    In the end, we didn’t have anything that resembled slime, but we did have a huge bowl of shaving cream (along with all the other ingredients) and giggling girls that were having a blast playing with what looked to me like a hot mess of blue shaving cream that smelled of laundry soap.   We laughed for quite a while on that one, and then I proceeded to throw our mess down the drain.  Praying the whole time that all the glue we just put down the drain does not affect out pipes in the long run!!  Result:   Disaster!

Our 2nd attempt: was done when I wasn’t home.  They were home with their mom, and they basically did the same thing but this time they added glitter to it.   It came out closer to what slime was supposed to look like, but was still runny and not really taking the shape or consistency of what slime should be.  It stuck to your hands something awful and you had to go wash immediately to get it off you!   We realized at that point that it matters what type of laundry soap you use, as apparently some of the liquid laundry soap doesn’t have the ingredient needed to have a success.  Result:  Hot Mess!!!

Our 3rd attempt, we finally had success.   I had their mom do it with them, and she had looked up the “correct” recipe.   It came out NOT  sticking to the hands, and the correct consistency.                              Yay!!   Success!!   

There are a couple of different recipes that you can use, but the one we finally settled on we ended up modifying . The original recipe had Borax, Glue , Shaving cream and laundry detergent.  It was referred to as “Fluffy Slime”.   However, as I said, we  ended up modifying the recipe because it was not “coming together” and was sticking to their hands.  (once again, ,these recipes are science experiments and not a guarantee they will always work) So we added  2 tbsp of Baking Soda and Contact Solution.   The Contact Solution was added basically until it all started coming together.   You have to start kneading it, like you do when you knead bread and you want to do this until it doesn’t stick to your hands anymore.   You can also add food coloring to it , and come up with a variety of colors of slime, but this particular batch we just kept it plain white.

Here is what I have learned, there are TONS  and TONS of recipes out there.   It is really a trial and error as to what one works for you, so if you have never made it before and want to, keep that in mind.  If you HAVE made it and have a recipe that you know works well, PLEASE feel free to share with me and others in the comments below!!!

I personally am not a fan of the ones that include laundry detergent, as they smell is overwhelming to me.  ( Especially on a  hot day and they are playing with it in the backseat of the car,  phew…that smell gets strong!)

So here is my question to all my followers…….Is it just a local thing that making Slime has become so popular?  Or are your kids also wanting to make this constantly and playing with it non-stop?    

It has become so popular around here, that our local Walmart is now carrying Elmer’s Glue in the gallon jugs!!    At one point a couple weeks ago, when it really became popular, you couldn’t find a bottle of glue at ANY store in town!!   

I would LOVE to hear from you if you have tried making Slime and if so , what has worked for you???