Slime is AMAZING science that kids love to sink their hands into. Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to encourage their kids to jump into science. Let them jump into slime making when it involves classic chemistry. Our homemade slime recipes won’t disappoint. Discover how to Master Your Slime for cool slimy science any day! We’ll show you how to make slime chemistry activities everyone will love.
SET UP AND MAKE SLIME CHEMISTRY ACTIVITIES WITH KIDS!
I WAS SO WRONG ABOUT HOMEMADE SLIME
OK! So slime looks like it could be difficult to make and to have come out right. I put off making slime for a long time because I thought it was just one of those things on Pinterest that only certain people can pull off. I didn’t want to waste time, money, or my patience.
But… my son really want to make homemade slime, so I dug into it. We tinkered and experimented because that’s what a good scientist does, and we LOVE science as much as we LOVE slime.
Slime making itself is AWESOME science that I share more about below, but you can also add some extra special ingredients for even more AMAZING science and kick it up a notch. Read on after the video…
MASTER BASIC SLIME RECIPES FIRST
I always suggest that my slimy fans master the most basic slime recipes first. Once you have the basics, the rest is easy peasy. Our homemade basic slime recipes, are hands down the best around. If you have the right slime ingredients and the right recipes, you will have a slime win!
Here are the 4 basic slime recipes. You can decide which one best fits your needs, your supplies, and your kids! Or test them all and compare the results. That’s super simple science right there!
This slime recipe has become our #1 recipe and it’s also great for our UK and Canadian readers who cannot find all the same slime supplies as in the US. This recipe is also great for experimenting with viscosity like the borax recipe.
This is one of the quickest and easiest slime recipes to try out with simple measurements. Great for large groups and young kids to handle!
This recipe is regarded as the classic slime science experiment recipe as it’s quite easy to explore viscosity changes with it by experimenting with different ratios of borax powder to water!
FLUFFY SLIME RECIPE (A variation of the saline slime recipe but we like to call it a classic)
No more having to print out a WHOLE blog post for just one recipe!
Get our basic slime recipes in an easy to print format so you can knock out the activities!
—>>> FREE SLIME RECIPE CARDS
MAKING SLIME WITH THE KIDDOS IS FUN SCIENCE!
Before we get to all the kick it up a notch slime science activities, let’s explore some of the basic science behind the slime.
CLICK HERE TO GET IDEAS FOR SETTING UP SLIME SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS!
HOMEMADE SLIME SCIENCE
We always like to include a bit of homemade slime science around here! Slime is an excellent chemistry demonstration and kids love it too! Mixtures, substances, polymers, cross-linking, states of matter, elasticity, and viscosity are just a few of the scientific concepts that can be explored with homemade slime!
What’s slime science all about? The borate ions in the slime activators (sodium borate, borax powder, or boric acid) mix with the PVA (polyvinyl acetate) glue and form this cool stretchy substance. This is called cross-linking!
The glue is a polymer and is made up of long, repeating, and identical strands or molecules. These molecules with flow past one another keeping the glue in a liquid state. Until…
You add the borate ions to the mixture, and it then starts to connect these long strands together. They begin to tangle and mix until the substance is less like the liquid you started with and thicker and rubbery like slime! Slime is a polymer.
Picture the difference between wet spaghetti and leftover spaghetti the next day. As the slime forms, the tangled molecule strands are much like the clump of spaghetti!
Is slime a liquid or solid?
We call it a Non-Newtonian fluid because it’s a little bit of both! Experiment with making the slime more or less viscous with varying amounts of foam beads. Can you change the density?
Did you know that slime aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)?
It does and you can use slime making to explore states of matter and its interactions. Find out more below…
EXPLORE HOW TO MAKE SLIME CHEMISTRY ACTIVITIES!
Now that you have a better understanding of the basic science or chemistry behind making homemade slime, let’s kick it up a notch. Now we know that making slime on its own is chemistry, but we can add some special ingredients to add in even more cool science.
Click on the links below to check out each “kick it up a notch slime recipe” to find everything you need to take your slime making experience to a whole new level!
MORE “Kicked Up a Notch” SLIME SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
Heat Sensitive Color Changing Slime
Once you start making cool slimes, you won’t be able to stop. Slime is addicting, and I highly recommend trying each recipe. They do require an extra special ingredient, but it’s well worth it.
Plus those recipes offer additional science lessons that are really cool for kiddos to explore. And there’s nothing better in my book than a kiddo who loves science!
SLIME SCIENCE FOR KIDS IS A MUST TRY!
Feel like you are juggling between helping a few students and groups that finish at different times?
Want to know what to say when children ask those difficult to explain WHY questions?
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24 pages of AWESOME slime science activities, resources, and printable worksheets for you!!
When it comes to doing science every week, your class will cheer!
Thank you so much for including our super fluffy slime in this awesome collection! There are so many new slimes I want to try here!