4 Goo & Slime Recipes That Take Putty to a Whole Other Level

Sensory experiences are awesome for any kid. When you combine activities that heighten senses with scientific education, you have a win-win situation that everyone will enjoy. Besides...who doesn’t love slime?!

Making goo or slime is a science-meets-sensory activity that pretty much gets everyone excited. Things that are sticky, gummy, mushy or gluey appeal to kids for their sheer gross factor. That said, there are some kiddos who freak out if their hands get yucky or if something slimy comes near them (not only do I have one of those kids, I was one of those kids). Helping them create their own gooey science project can actually make messiness tolerable and even inviting.

Not only do slime and goo let kids explore the sense of touch, they can employ other senses, such as sight, smell, and even hearing (how many of us have ever squished our fingers into a jar of store-bought slime just to hear it make that hilarious –um, I mean disgusting sound?).

Help pique your child’s interest in science and introduce some fun sensory play with these DIY goo and slime recipes for kids:

UV Glow in the Dark Slime

Objects that glow in the dark have fascinated me ever since I went to a one night sleep-away camp with my Brownie troop in the third grade. Our cabin chaperone showed us how Wintergreen Lifesavers sparked if you chewed them in the dark with your mouth open. After that, I collected any glow in the dark objects I could find. I had a stash of greenish-white plastic tchotchkes that, when held up to a lightbulb for a while, would emit an eerie glow.

Pieke Roelofs shares how to make homemade glow in the dark slime on her blog, Photo and Grime. This fun “gak” uses a basic putty recipe but adds in some glow in the dark paint that makes it ideal for a slumber party favor, a photo session, or just sensory fun.

Dancing Oobleck

If you have never heard of Oobleck, allow me to introduce you. Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated 44 children’s books during his illustrious career, including one called Bartholomew and the Oobleck. This book is about a boy who had to save his kingdom from a sticky green slime –called Oobleck—that was falling from the sky.

Unlike the goop that Bartholomew warns his neighbors about, this Oobleck is a super fun (dancing!) substance that displays non-Newtonian properties. Simply put, it is a fluid that can act like a solid – and you can make it “dance” using soundwaves. To try out this super-cool, gooey experiment yourself, check out the easy, two-ingredient recipe and steps at Housing a Forest.

Rubber Slime

Silly putty is one of those nostalgic toys that’s a quintessential part of childhood. If your own childhood included bouncing, stretching and copying newspaper comics with the goo, you will enjoy this project. Although it is not an exact replacement for the pinkish putty, it has similar properties that the kids will love.

Allison Waken loves doing science-y stuff with her two boys and shares her discoveries on her blog, All for the Boys. Her DIY rubber slime recipe is made up of common household ingredients that, when mixed together, produce a stretchy, rubbery substance kids can bounce, tear and maybe even use to copy comics out of the newspaper (do they still have those?).

Spaghetti Slime

Some homemade slime recipes start with something already made and simply make it gooier. The thin, worm-like texture of this “slime” can help you switch up sensory playtime, taking it from goopy and sticky to stringy and slick.

Believe it or not, Desiree at The 36th Avenue came up with a way to turn ordinary spaghetti noodles into a colorful, slippery sensory activity. Perhaps the best part of this slime recipe for kids is that you quite likely have everything you need to make it in your pantry. You can simply use pasta and Kool-Aid to create a new gooey play material.

No matter what slime or goo recipe you decide on, you can make it again and again, ramping it up each time by adding fragrant essential oils, sparkling glitter and other ingredients that heighten your child’s senses. Ask your kids to come up with other ideas and see how the slime changes!

Do you have the ultimate recipe for goo and slime? Share it with us!

Tags : education   science   experiments   activities   

Elodie Nilsson
So cool. My daughter is a total slime addict
Stacie Engels
Playing with these must be so satisfying!
Pritham Ross
Totally second the spaghetti slime. Looks so cool and easy
Nikki M
Ooooh, that spaghetti slime!!!!
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