How to Make Mermaid Slime | Little Bins for Little Hands

Ever dream of being a mermaid? This is about as close as we will come no matter how much we love the ocean! Learn how to make mermaid slime perfect for an under the sea or ocean theme! This slime recipe is sure to delight the kiddos. and making slime is also cool science. We have tons of ideas for slime!

HOW TO MAKE MERMAID SLIME FOR UNDER THE SEA!

We definitely loved making our homemade ocean slime last time, so this time we thought about a mermaid slime instead! My son is particularly fond of the ocean and the beach and he has a great friend who is also fond of mermaids.

This slime has the beautiful glossy colors of the ocean with hints of purple and sparkle for the mermaid lover too. You can add seas glass, shells, colored or clear gems, and anything else to complete your under the sea theme.

BASIC SLIME RECIPES

All of our holiday, seasonal, and everyday slimes use one of five basic slime recipes that are super easy to make! We make slime all the time, and these have become our go-to favorite slime recipes!

I will always let you know which basic slime recipe we used in our photographs, but I will also tell you which of the other basic recipes will work too! Usually you can interchange several of the ingredients depending on what you have on hand for slime supplies.

Here we use our Saline Solution Slime recipe. Slime with saline solution is one of our favorite sensory play recipes! We make it ALL the time because it is so quick and easy to whip up. Four simple ingredients {one is water} are all you need. Add color, glitter, sequins, and then you are done!

Where do I buy a saline solution?

We pick up our saline solution in the grocery store! You can also find it on Amazon, Walmart, Target, and even at your pharmacy.

Now if you don’t want to use saline solution, you can absolutely test out one of our other basic recipes using liquid starch or borax powder. We have tested all these recipes with equal success!

NOTE: We have found that Elmer’s specialty glues tend to be a bit stickier than Elmer’s regular clear or white glue, and so for this type of glue we always prefer our 2 ingredient basic glitter slime recipe.

NOTE: We ended up making a bunch of colors and they look amazing when they begin to swirl together. Plus it’s a lot of fun to play with a huge pile of homemade slime. You don’t half to make full-size batches either to save on glue! Just make 1/2 the batch and split the ingredients in half.

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

MERMAID SLIME RECIPE

I always encourage my readers to read through our recommended slime supplies list and How To Fix Slime Guide before making slime for the first time. Learning how to stock your pantry with the best slime ingredients is easy! We show you the brands we love to use!

YOU WILL NEED:

Rather use liquid starch? Click here.

Rather use borax powder? Click here.

Clear Glue
Liquid Starch
Water
Neon Food Colors
Glitter and Sequins
Container, measuring cups, and mixing tools
Optional: Shells, Gems, or Plastic Ocean Themed Items

GET THE SLIME RECIPE!

Learn how to make mermaid slime by clicking on either of the black boxes below this picture. Each of our favorite slime recipes has it’s own page so you can check out the step by step instructions with pictures. You can also make this slime using any of our other slime recipes which you can find here.

Below you can see our container of ingredients before we added the starch! Look at all of the gorgeous color, sparkling glitter, and sequins!

Think about your favorite combinations for a mermaid with blues, greens, and purples. We also whipped up an iridescent batch to go along with the others.

HOW TO MAKE MERMAID SLIME:

STEP 1: In a bowl mix 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup of glue well to combine completely.

STEP 2: Now’s the time to add (color, glitter, or confetti)! Remember when you add color to white glue, the color will be lighter. Use clear glue for jewel toned colors!

STEP 3: Stir in 1/4- 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Baking soda helps to firm and form the slime. You can play around with how much you add but we prefer between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp per batch. I get asked all the time why do you need baking soda for slime. Baking soda helps to improve the firmness of the slime. You can experiment with your own ratios!

STEP 4: Mix in 1 tbsp saline solution and stir until slime forms and pulls away from sides of the bowl. This is exactly how much you will need with the Target Sensitive Eyes brand, but other brands may differ slightly!

If your slime still feels too sticky, you may need a few more drops of saline solution. As I mentioned above, start by squirting a few drops of the solution onto your hands and kneading your slime longer. You can always add but you can’t take away. Saline solution is preferred over contact solution.

STEP 5: Start kneading your slime! It will appear stringy at first but just work it around with your hands and you will notice the consistency changes. You can also put it in a clean container and set it aside for 3 minutes, and you will also notice the change in consistency!

SLIME TIP: We always recommend kneading your slime well after mixing. Kneading the slime really helps to improve its consistency. The trick with this slime is to put a few drops of the saline soluti9n onto your hands before picking up the slime.

You can knead the slime in the bowl before you pick it up as well. This slime is stretchy but can be stickier. However, keep in mind that although adding more activator (saline solution) reduces the stickiness, and it will eventually create a stiffer slime.

THE SCIENCE OF KEYWORD

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 science 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 forms 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…

How long can you get the slime to stretch before it breaks in two pieces?

STRETCHY SLIME vs. STICKY SLIME

Which slime is the stretchiest? This slime recipe is by far my most favorite slime recipe for stretchy slime!

A stickier slime will be a stretchier slime no doubt. A less sticky slime will be a firmer slime. However, not everyone loves a sticky slime! As you continue to knead the slime, the stickiness will lessen.

Tinkering with the baking soda and saline amounts will change the consistency of the slime to thinner or thicker. Keep in mind that any recipe will come out just a bit different on any given day. This is really a great chemistry experiment, and one of the things you will learn is that slime is meant to be stretched slowly.

HOW DO YOU STORE SLIME

Slime lasts quite a while! I get a lot of questions regarding how I store my slime. We use reusable containers in either plastic or glass. Make sure to keep your slime clean and it will last for several weeks. I love the deli-style containers I have listed in my recommended slime supplies list.

If you want to send kids home with a bit of slime from a camp, party, or classroom project, I would suggest packages of reusable containers from the dollar store or grocery store or even Amazon. For large groups, we have used condiment containers and labels as seen here.

We have the best resources to look through before, during, and after making your (KEYWORD) slime! Make sure to go back and read the slime science above too!