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Let's Make Slime!
- Gabrielle Fischer Posted On Mar 9, 2017 | STEM
From Michaels to Office Max and even Target, major retailers have been at a loss to keep Elmer’s stocked on their shelves. You might imagine this is the result of a production problem or shipping snafu. But it’s not.
It’s all because of Slime!
Yep, you read that right. It’s slime, the DIY craft-meets-science-experiment is so popular that Elmer’s can’t keep up. So grab some glue wherever you can (it doesn’t have to be Elmer’s) and give slime a try with your own kids, using one of the variations below.
Please note - this project isn't for younger children, as it requires handling Borax. Please make sure your children don't eat the slime and don't leave younger children alone with it. If a child does accidentally ingest the slime, call the American Association of Poison Control at 800-222-1222 immediately.
Slime Ingredients:
- Liquid glue
- Borax detergent (note – you can substitute Borax for a liquid starch, like Sta-Flo, if you prefer)
- Food coloring
- Water
- Stir stick
- Bowl
Traditional Slime
Just squeeze the contents of a glue bottle into a bowl, fill the empty glue bottle with water, pour on top of the glue, and mix with a stir stick. Then, stir in a few drops of food coloring.
In a separate bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of Borax into 1 cup of water.
Then, slowly add a few drops of the Borax mixture into the glue mixture, mixing with the stick, until the combo starts to clump. Don’t put too much Borax in at once – it’s easy to ruin your slime! Continue adding Borax until your mixture is smooth, bouncy, and not at all sticky. (You can dump any excess water out of the bowl).
Now play! Squeeze, stretch, roll, stamp with cookie cutters, place in a small glass and press with two fingers (if you’re THAT kind of family. We are.). Store your slime in a sealable plastic bag or container and you’ll be able to reuse it for several days, even a week.
Glitter Slime
Go for the glitter with this sparkly slime sometimes referred to as Unicorn Slime or Galaxy Slime.The ingredients list and process are the same as above, substituting glitter glue for liquid glue and ditching the food coloring (glitter glue is available in a variety of colors including pink, purple, blue, and green). You can also shake in a bit of actual glitter as you’re mixing for some serious sparkle. Glitter Slime will be a different consistency than Traditional Slime – a bit more solid and dense – it even bounces!
Glow Slime
Turn out the lights for a night-time slime session with this recipe for glow-in-the-dark slime!Choose neon green food coloring and add washable glow paint to the ingredients listed above. Mix the paint in with the food coloring, glue, and water then slowly add the Borax mixture, kneading with your hands until you’ve got your desired consistency. The phosphors in the paint will “charge” in the light. That charge energizes the phosphors’ electrons and the paint glows as the energy is released.
The glow is easiest to see in the dark, of course. When the glow wears off, simply turn on the lights to “recharge” your slime!
Ready for more at-home science experiments? Check out our Magic of Matter experiment and our Lava Learning Lamp experiment for preschoolers.
Celebrate Astronomy Day with Kids
Each year Astronomy Day is celebrated worldwide. The stars have fascinated humanity for literally centuries, and even to this day captures the imagination of kids of all ages. Celebrate this event with them this year and don't worry if you don't own any expensive telescopes. These DIY activities use real life discoveries to inspire your little astronomers!
Track the Phases of the Moon
Bone sticks from across Europe and Africa dating back as long ago as 35,000 BCE that tracked the moon’s phases. Use a simple number line with your kids to track the phases of the moon over the course of a month, from full moon and back again. Do it for several months and see what patterns they begin to observe.
Depict a Celestial Phenomenon
A celestial phenomenon is a astrological event that involves one or more objects. The earliest example depicted was discovered in Germany in 1999. The Nebra Sky Disc dates back to 2000 BC and it depicted a star cluster, phases of the moon and the rising sun.
Use a black paper plate, or even just black paper, and encourage your children to depict their own star formations. If they can’t stay up to observe them at night, project some indoors with this Shining Stars Projector.
Astronomy to Keep Time
The Chinese astronomers kept detailed observations beginning about 600 BC, for the primary purpose of timekeeping. Their records allowed them to predict eclipses, and include the first record of events such as supernovas and comets.
On the other side of the world, the Mayans developed their own astronomical tables for predicting the phases of the moon, eclipses, and the appearance of the other planets. They used these and the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and constellations to establish the Mayan calendar.
All of the above astronomy was without a telescope, and you can still observe these astronomical events with your kids today. Check out this astronomy calendar and pick a full moon, eclipse, planetary event, or meteor shower to observe as a family.
Try this simple astronomy experiment to help kids as young as preschoolers understand what makes night.
Just because ancient astronomers did all of this without a telescope doesn't mean your little ones have to! All of the above activities can be done with the naked eye but if you feel like shooting for the stars check out Learning Resources Big View Telescope. How will you celebrate Astronomy Day?
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St. Patrick's Day STEM Classroom Activities
Rainbow Round-Up:
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day means rainbow fun galore! Set the stage and build background knowledge by exploring colors, light, and color mixing. These color paddles and color mixing lenses by Learning Resources are perfect for rainbow play and exploration. Let your students experiment with shining light through individual colors and also play with color mixing by overlapping primary color paddles to make secondary colors.
After that warm-up, transition from color mixing to into rainbow fun with one of my favorite, simple activities for this time of year. The best milk color changing experiment I have found is from Spangler Science (here). Watch the video and follow the detailed, yet simple instructions to have your littles mixing colors like St. Patrick’s Day experts! My students loved this activity so much, as did their parents during our family STEM night. 
Leprechaun Tracks Green Goo:
In my classroom and at home with my own son, we always talk about how leprechauns leave tracks and a trail wherever they go. Sometimes I use a footprint stamp and washable green ink to stamp out his path and the kids LOVE it! Kick this up a notch by then having your children/students create Leprechaun GOO! We all know slime/goo is all the rage, and so if you can’t been them...join them. Watch this step-by-step instructional video from Steve Spangler Science (what I used in my classroom) to see how to create your own green goo that the kiddos will love.
TEACHER TESTED TIPS:
- Purchase dollar store plastic tablecloths to cover your experiment surfaces.
- Have students wear oversized shirts or smocks while making the goo.
- Provide plastic food service gloves to protect hands from goop and food coloring.
- Use foil baking/roasting pans to prevent messy splatters during mixing.
Lucky Charms Screen-Free Coding:
Check out this amazing, yet simple St. Patrick’s Day screen-free coding activity from early childhood STEM guru, Brooke Brown, of Teach Oustide the Box. For just $2.00, this simple St. Patrick’s Day themed introduction to block-style coding is perfect for Kindergarten through third graders as they learn the basics of “unplugged” programming without computers. After completing activities such as these on paper, they can apply similar block coding strategies to coding websites and apps for kids such as code.org and Kodable, and eventually to more advanced languages of coding. To allow students to be most successful, please MODEL and clearly discuss directions for this activity before they complete it with partners. Grab some Lucky Charms and get ready to go for the (leprechaun) gold!
LIFE-SIZED TIP:
Use the Reversable Graph It Mat by Learning Resources and sorting manipulatives, clipart, or paper cutouts to create your own super-sized version of this screen-free coding activity. You might want to use this as a warm-up and then transition to the activity above from Teach Outside the Box.
Leprechaun Trap STEM Challenge:
Perhaps the most common spring holiday STEM Challenge is to have your students/children create a leprechaun trap using the engineering design process. This is a great activity to leave open-ended to allow for maximum maker-creativity and end products. If you would like some amazing inspiration, check out the plethora of ideas on this post to get you started. From trap design to clever bait, you’ll have plenty to choose from to get you started. The best part? Almost everything you need can be found around the house.
If you want to supercharge your leprechaun trap construction, try weaving this gears set by Learning Resources into your engineering design plan and process. They will add a level of complexity and fun to your con-TRAP-tions! 
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