How To Make Crunchy Slime

Maybe you can’t get enough of slime and want to take it beyond the simple and basic slime recipes. Or maybe you have a troop of kids who want to try making slime every way imaginable and love exploring the cool textures out there! Well here’s our new crunchy slime recipe or fishbowl slime, super simple and super fun to make!

HOW DO YOU MAKE CRISPY FISHBOWL SLIME?

Fishbowl beads, of course! Who would thought there were so many cool things to mix into our slime recipes! We have quite a few slime ideas to share, and we are always adding more. Our Crunchy or Crispy Slime Recipe is yet another AMAZING slime recipe we can show you how to make!

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: DIY Floam Slime

Oh and slime is science too, so don’t miss the great information on the science behind this easy fishbowl slime below. Watch our awesome slime videos and see how easy it is to make the best slime!

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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!

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 saline solution?

We pick up our saline solution in the grocery store! You can also find it on Amazon, Walmart (Equate), Target (Up and Up Brand), and even at your pharmacy. This type of saline solution must contain boric acid and sodium borate. You can not make homemade saline solution with salt and water.

Now if you don’t want to use a saline solution, you can absolutely test out one of our other slime recipes using the slime activators, 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 if you are using a glitter glue we always prefer our 2 ingredient basic glitter slime recipe.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND OUR CRUNCHY SLIME

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 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 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…

CRUNCHY SLIME RECIPE

A super simple slime but a new cool texture using a basic slime recipe! The little fishbowl beads are a great mix in for slime!

Get your supplies ready for this crunchy fishbowl slime. You can mix up a few different colors and blend them together. However, keep in mind that if you choose shades that are really opposite one another, you can get a murky looking color in the end.

INGREDIENTS FOR CRUNCHY SLIME:

1/2 cup Clear or White PVA School Glue
1 tablespoon Saline Solution (must contain boric acid and sodium borate)
1/2 cup of Water
1/4-1/2 tsp Baking Soda
Food coloring
1/3 cup Fishbowl Beads

HOW TO MAKE CRUNCHY SLIME

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

STEP 2: Now’s the time to add food coloring! 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 and mix well.

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: Add the fishbowl beads to the mixture and stir in.

Add 1/4 cup – 1/3 cup of the crunchy beads. If you add too many, they will make the slime more brittle and it won’t have an awesome stretch. Plus, the excess may fall out as you play. You will still get a few beads that want to fall out. But for the most part, they stay in the slime nicely.

STEP 5: Now it’s time to add your slime activator. Mix in 1 tbsp saline solution and stir until the slime forms and pulls away from sides of the bowl.

SLIME TIP: 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!

Remember your saline solution needs to include some combination of sodium borate and boric acid or at least one or the other. These are called slime activators. If it only contains boric acid, you may need to add a little more {but add small amounts slowly}. These ingredients are what makes the chemical reaction with the PVA glue to make the slime texture, so it’s quite important!

STEP 6: 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 its consistency.

You will love how easy and stretchy this crunchy slime is to make, and play with too! Once you have your desired slime consistency, time to have fun! How big of a stretch can you get without the slime breaking?

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.

You can also experiment with different amounts of the fishbowl beads added. Mix up fun colors to swirl together. This neon blue and green looking slime turned into a cool seafoam green colored slime as the two colors mixed. We even have ideas on how to turn slime into a slime science project!

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.

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.

The addition of these clear fishbowl beads makes it look like bubbles in the slime! Here’s a fun idea, add plastic fish! We found these fun little glass containers at the craft store that even look like little fishbowls.

Making homemade slime is really easy once you get the hang of it. Don’t give up if it doesn’t turn out like you hoped the first time. A new recipe always includes a little trial and error, but we are really pleased with all our homemade slime recipes and how easy they are to use.