MOMMMM!! Can we make slime?? Pleeeease!! If you have younger kids, you’ve probably heard this once or twice (or 3,037 times). My reaction: ugh. Making slime isn’t always the cleanest activity and after many a slime “fail”, the kids were often let down. BUT making slime is a great STEM activity to teach kids about physics and chemistry concepts (check out our science behind slime experiment). This guide will not only teach you how to make slime at home, it will walk through how to make slime step by step with recipes we’ve tested. Let’s science!
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Overview:
Who can make slime? Age range: preschool and up (BUT SUPERVISE!)
Ok. I’m setting a lower age range here for making slime at home. Simply put, the little kids are going to want a piece of the action too. However, like all STEM projects use your judgement and supervise especially with younger kids and especially when working with the different materials or reagents. We also have a post about how to use slime as a science fair project complete with hypothesis and experiments to analyze over a weekend. For the slime science fair project, 3rd graders and up are more likely to grasp the concepts and work through the steps.
Backdrop: what we’re going to do and why it’s cool
The ultimate guide to slime will help you learn how to make slime at home in a relatively easy manner. Our favorite part: the range of slime offerings. We’ve tested the recipes in our “home” slime lab and lived through the Pinterest fails so you don’t have to! Finally, we stepped it up a notch (or tried to at least!) and found unique, peculiar recipes you won’t see elsewhere. Everyone’s seen the posts about how to make slime with glue and Borax… but how about color-changing slime?? COOL!! Our slime guide covers:
- Brief background on the science of slime – what makes slime so slimy
- “How to make slime” recipes – what you need (“materials”) and what you need to do step-by-step
- Slime tips – what our kids found challenging, what they liked and what does/doesn’t work
Intro to the Science of Slime
Maybe your kids got it as a birthday present. Or maybe you saw it at the store. Perhaps you even made it at home. How to describe slime? We’d call it a gooey, viscous “thing” that’s not a liquid or a solid. It’s stretchy and squishy. But it’s NOT Playdoh. For you old school folks that remember when people read the newspaper, maybe you also played with Silly Putty (that’s kind of like slime).
The American Chemistry Society describes the science behind slime. Essentially, glue consists of POLYMERS or long chains of molecules that glide along each other. When Borax dissolves in water it acts on the glue polymers and locks them together – almost like tying logs together to make a raft. This CHEMICAL REACTION between the Borax and glue creates slime and turns the solution from a sticky mess to a rubbery material (see our science behind slime experiment for more details).
How to Make Slime: Demonstration
While step-by-step instructions work well for some, pictures also help a ton. Check out our general how to make slime video below – which ties with the Regular Slime recipe.
How to Make Slime: Basics
Ingredients vary depending on the recipe below, but the procedures follow the same format. As always make sure kids are supervised, following the guides and making the products in a safe spot. First, find a good location. Some materials stain furniture, clothes and skin (e.g. food coloring). If your kiddos have allergies or sensitive skin, take appropriate precautions. Second, before making/following any recipe, also wash your hands to avoid getting dirt/germs in the material.
For all recipes in our Ultimate Guide, you need the following items:
- Mixing bowls, plastic cups
- Measuring cups, spoons
- Mixing sticks/popsicle sticks/wooden spoon
- Paper towels
- Bags/containers to hold slime after it’s been made
Finally, I’d recommend using secondhand containers/mixers or older things you don’t mind getting dinged up. The local dollar store or garage sales offer great spots to source inexpensive tools (if you plan on making multiple batches).
The Recipes
Without further ado, the links below describe how to make slime…with a number of twists!
- Regular Slime: How to make slime with glue and Borax
- Light it Up: How to make glow slime
- See Through Slime: How to make clear slime
- Time to Shine: How to make glitter slime
- Change of Heart? How to make color-change slime
- It’s SOOO FLUFFFYYY!!! How to make fluffy slime
- Slime attraction: How to make magnetic slime
Regular Slime: How to make slime with glue and Borax
This one got us started down the slime path! We consider it a more traditional recipe that holds the most recognition and include a variation below to make colored slime. While we’ve stuck with Elmer’s (no pun intended), could other brands work? Sure! That could ACTUALLY make for a great experiment!!! Which brand of glue creates the stretchiest slime?
Materials / Process
- Materials – what you need:
- Elmer’s school glue – one bottle is ~8 ounces
- Borax laundry detergent (this is an example – the dry powder form)
- Water
- Liquid food coloring (only if you want a certain color)
- Procedure – how you’ll do it:
- Prepare the Borax. First, dissolve 1 tablespoon of Borax detergent in 1 cup of warm water. Mix until everything disappears, then set the solution to the side – we won’t use it until we’ve mixed our glue/water solution in step #3.
- Prepare the glue. Next, empty the bottle of glue into a mixing bowl or container. Refill the glue container with water. Swirl/shake the container to get the remaining glue off the sides and dump into the mixing bowl with the glue.
- Mix the glue/water. Next, make sure those “paws” are washed and start mixing the glue and water together with your hands. BE WARNED: You will get messy. You want to knead it almost like you’re mixing bread dough, but the mixture will be very sticky.
- OPTIONAL: When mixing the glue and water, add food coloring drops to change color. BE WARNED: This can make for more mess/stains.
- Add Borax solution. At this point, you will want to add a little Borax solution (the one you prepared in the first step). This is when you CROSSLINK the glue molecules… it goes from sticky to gooey. Again, mix like kneading bread dough. Add more Borax (~1/8 cup) at a time and keep kneading until you get the consistency you like.
- Bag it. When you are done playing with it, put it in a Ziploc bag or container to keep it sealed and prevent it from “drying out”.
Light it up: How to make glow slime
When I think about glow slime, my second thought: Halloween! There are TWO ways to make glow material. Option 1: use glow in the dark glue (like this one from Elmer’s) as your base ingredient. These come in 5 ounce bottles so a little smaller than the regular school glue size. Option 2: add in a glow product. While you can use glow powder or even glowing acrylic paint, the glow powder route makes the brightest slime in our experience. Ultimately, working with glow glue is simply easier.
Option 1: glow glue
- Materials: what you need:
- Elmer’s Glow in the Dark Glue
- Borax laundry detergent
- Water
- Procedure: how you’ll do it:
- Start with the Borax. Prepare as described in the Regular Slime recipe.
- Add glue to your container. Next, empty the glue into a mixing bowl. Refill the glue container with water. Swirl the container to get the remaining glue off the sides and dump into the mixing bowl.
- Mix the glue/water. Before you begin, wash hands. Then, start mixing the glue/water with your hands. BE WARNED: You will get messy. You want to knead it almost like you’re mixing bread dough, but the mixture will be very sticky.
- Add Borax solution. At this point, add a little Borax solution (prepared in the first step). This will CROSSLINK the glue molecules… It goes from sticky to gooey. Again, keep mixing like kneading bread dough. Add more Borax (~1/8 cup) at a time and keep kneading until you get the consistency you like.
- Bag it. When finished playing with your slime, put it in a Ziploc bag or container to keep it sealed and prevent it from “drying out”.
Option 2: glow alternative (powder, paint)
- Materials: what you need:
- Elmer’s school glue – standard, white glue
- Borax laundry detergent
- Water
- Glow source – 1 teaspoon Slime glow powder
OR 3 tablespoons glow-in-the-dark craft paint
- Procedure: how you’ll do it:
- Prepare Borax/water solution. Prepare as described above in the Regular Slime recipe.
- Add glue to mixing bowl. Next, add ~8 ounces of glue into a mixing bowl or container. If you used a single container, rinse it with water. Then, swirl/shake the container to get the remaining glue off the sides and dump into the mixing bowl with the glue.
- Add glow substance. Next, add your powder or paint to the glue/water bowl.
- Mix slime. Then, use a wooden spoon to mix. Remember the mixture will be sticky.
- Add Borax solution to glue. At this point, add a little Borax solution (the one you prepared in the first step). This CROSSLINKS the glue molecules… Mix like kneading bread dough. As you mix, add more Borax (~1/8 cup) at a time and knead until you get the consistency you like.
- Bag it. Finally, store slime in a Ziploc bag or container to keep sealed and prevent it from “drying out”. One note – glow slime uses radiant energy (e.g. sun, lamp) to charge up so exposing it to light keeps the glow.
See Through: How to make clear slime
The easiest recipe (in our view) to make clear slime uses clear glue and Borax. Be careful using alternative crosslinking agents as your slime may end up less clear than you think. Lastly, if bubbles appear, be patient and let slime sit for a few days. Most important, bubbles will disappear over time.
- Materials: what you need:
- Elmer’s clear glue – (not the white stuff – see here)
- Borax laundry detergent
- Water
- Procedure: how you’ll do it:
- Setup Borax/crosslinking mix. Prepare as described above in the Regular Slime recipe.
- Add glue, water to bowl. Next, add about 1 cup of glue to a mixing bowl. Then, add an equal amount of water.
- Mix glue/water. Then, for the next step, make sure your hands are washed/clean. Mix the glue and water together with your hands (like kneading bread dough).
- OPTIONAL: If you want to add “extras”, like little glitter, sprinkles, pebbles, whatever, now is the time to do it.
- Add Borax solution. At this point, add a little Borax solution (the one you prepared in the first step). This CROSSLINKS the glue molecules… Next, mix the material like kneading bread dough. As you mix, add more Borax (~1/8 cup) at a time and knead until you get the consistency you like.
- Bag it. Time to play! As you conclude, use a Ziploc container/bag to store your final product.
Time to Shine: How to make unicorn glitter slime
What exactly do we mean by unicorn glitter slime? This is going to be a multi-colored, glittery, fun slime! While there are alternatives you could use instead of the Elmer’s glitter glue, I argue in favor of ease and simplicity. Any alternative suggestions? Please let us know!
- Materials: what you need:
- Elmer’s colored glitter glue – (usually comes in three pack of colors)
- Borax laundry detergent
- Water
- Procedure: how you’ll do it:
- Prepare the Borax solution. Prepare as described above in the Regular Slime recipe.
- Add glue. First, we use three separate containers to mix the glues separately. Alternatively, mix all three together. For each glue bottle poured into a mixing bowl, rinse that container with water (or use roughly the same volume of water). Finally, pour the “rinse water” into the mixing bowl.
- Mix glue/water. Then, wash your hands. Once clean, mix the glue and water together with your hands (like kneading bread dough).
- OPTIONAL: If you want to add “extras”, like little additional glitter, sprinkles, pebbles, whatever, now is the time to do it.
- Add Borax solution. At this point, add a little of the Borax solution prepared in the first step. This CROSSLINKS the glue molecules… Mix like kneading bread dough. As you mix, add more Borax (~1/8 cup) at a time and knead until you get the consistency you like.
- Bag it. Time to play! When finished, use a Ziploc container/bag to store.
Change of Heart? How to make color-change slime
This one is pretty cool. No, seriously. Like, I WANTED to make this one first!! When I pitched this one to my kids I said: who wants to learn how to make slime?? No, we did that already. Oh yea – who wants to learn how to make color-changing slime?? COOOOOL!! Although I’ve only found the color change material (thermochromic pigment – see picture) through Amazon, I assume science stores likely sell it as well.
For this experiment, you should note that the pigment will go from colored to clear at a temperature of ~88 degrees Fahrenheit. Our best results came with using white glue and no extra coloring. Finally, because the color change occurs when it is warm, make sure the pigment is COOL to start with so you can get the warmest color. IDEA: use a “cold” substance to cool your slime and see how quickly it resets!
EDIT: Kits are available for purchase through Target and Walmart; however, we have not tested this one.
- Materials: what you need:
- Elmer’s school glue – (just the white kind)
- Thermochromic pigment (example of what we’ve used – others are likely similar)
- Borax laundry detergent
- Water
- Procedure: how you’ll do it:
- Prepare the Borax solution. See steps above in the Regular Slime recipe.
- Add glue to mixing bowl. First, pour ~8 ounces of glue into a mixing bowl, and add roughly the same volume of water to the bowl.
- Add thermochromic pigment. You will use ~2-3 tablespoons of pigment, assuming you used ~8 ounces of glue in the first step.
- Mix glue/water. First, wash your hands. Once clean, start mixing the glue and water with your hands (like kneading bread dough).
- Add Borax solution. At this point, add a little of the Borax solution prepared in the first step. This CROSSLINKS the glue molecules… Mix like kneading bread dough. As you mix, add more Borax (~1/8 cup) at a time and knead until you get the consistency you like.
- Bag it. Time to play! When finished, use a Ziploc container/bag to store the material.
It’s SOOO FLUFFFYYY!!! How to make fluffy slime
Yes, I love Agnes from Despicable Me. That’s why I can think of nothing better than including fluffy slime in our guide! What makes it fluffy? Well, the secret ingredient…. Barbasol. Yup, foamy shaving cream. While we’ve seen others have success with contact lens solution, for whatever reason, Borax is still our go-to crosslinking agent here.
Materials / Process
- Materials: what you need:
- Elmer’s white glue
- Borax laundry detergent
- Food coloring (to make it colorful)
- Foam shaving cream (don’t use gel; avoid scented)
- Glitter? (Agnes would approve we think!)
- Water
- Procedure: how you’ll do it:
- Prepare the Borax solution. Prepare as described above in the Regular Slime recipe.
- Add shaving cream. First, put 1 cup of shaving cream into a mixing bowl.
- Add color. Then, just use a few drops, but color as you like (if you like).
- Add glue. Next, add ~1 cup of glue to the mixing bowl.
- Mix it up. After you wash your hands, mix the glue/shaving cream together with your hands (like kneading bread dough).
OPTIONAL: If you want to add “extras”, like little additional glitter, sprinkles, pebbles, whatever, now is the time to do it.
- Add Borax solution. At this point, add a little of the Borax solution prepared in the first step. This CROSSLINKS the glue molecules… Mix like kneading bread dough. As you mix, add more Borax (~1/8 cup) at a time and knead until you get the consistency you like.
- Bag it. Lastly – Time to play! When finished, use a Ziploc container/bag to store. Please note as the shaving cream loses air, the slime will probably not hold together. This is not a longer-term slime.
Slime attraction: How to make magnetic slime
We wanted to make this one for a while but was.
- Materials: what you need:
- Elmer’s white glue
- Borax laundry detergent
- Iron Oxide Powder (we’ve used this one)
- Water
- Disposable gloves (yea, it’s that messy)
- Magnet
- Procedure: how you’ll do it:
- Prepare the Borax solution. First, prepare as described in the Regular Slime recipe.
- Add glue, iron oxide powder to mixing bowl. Next, add ~1 cup of glue to the mixing bowl. Then, add a similar amount of water and add ~3 tablespoons of iron oxide powder.
- Mix. After you wash your hands, mix the glue with a stirring spoon.
- Add Borax solution. At this point, add a little of the Borax solution prepared in the first step. This CROSSLINKS the glue molecules… Then, mix like kneading bread dough. Use gloves if the mixture is too messy and as you mix, add Borax (~1/8 cup) at a time and knead until you get the consistency you like. Finally, you can pat the slime dry with paper towel to absorb excess liquid.
- Bag it. Time to play! Use your magnet to try to move the finished product around. Finally, when finished, use a Ziploc container/bag to store.
Failures We’ve Had: Your Mileage May Vary
YouTube is literally coated with how to make slime fails – almost like they’re stuck there! Ha! Unsuccessful “how to” projects – Yup, we’ve had a few. While we don’t detail all of them, next we share a few words of wisdom:
Examples of Fails
- Slime with only glue and water. First off, you need a crosslinking agent. Without adding something that ties those glue molecules together, your likelihood of success won’t be high.
- Shaving cream, toothpaste slime fails. This ended up a minty nightmare! I still have that fresh mint smell on my hands. Regardless, just avoid it. I just saved you the cost of a toothpaste and shave can. You’re welcome!
- No glue slime. Not that this can’t work. First, you need a polymer that will be crosslinked to make slime. Just make sure the “no glue” approach includes a suitable polymer. Our mileage has varied.
- My slime is brittle!! Using too much Borax (or crosslinking agent)? that’s no good, as your slime becomes crackly and breakable. Be mindful as you mix and go slow. Finally, you can always add a little more, but once it’s in there you can’t take it back.
Closing Thoughts
One night at dinner as we chatted about slime (strange dinner topic, I know), I was struck by a few comments the kids made: “I’m not good at making slime”, “Mine didn’t work”. Almost to the point where the kiddos would rather give up. While the mom in me wanted to remind them we can’t just give up when things get challenging, it was the scientist in me that spoke up.
As a scientist, failure is a CONSTANT part of the job.
That sounds crazy, right?
Well, after more than a decade in the lab, I’ve had more experiments fail than I could ever count. What’s most important is the troubleshooting that occurs after the failure and getting back in the lab again. Should your slime not come together, or your experiment fails unexpectedly – never fear! This can be a great teaching opportunity! Finally, remember even if your experiments don’t work like planned, to keep the kiddos focused on the bigger picture and having fun. Most importantly, please feel free to contact us to help you through the process.
