Elmer’s Clear Glue Slime Recipe for Kids

Make liquid glass or at least crystal clear slime with the kids. Our Elmer’s clear glue slime recipe is amazingly easy, and it’s the perfect chemistry and science demonstration the kids love. We stumbled upon a fun little fact to get our slime to look as clear as glass. Homemade slime is an awesome activity to share with kids, and we have the best slime recipes to share with you!

ELMER’S CLEAR GLUE SLIME RECIPE

GOT HOMEMADE SLIME?

Are you new to the slime craze or have you been loving slime all along? I absolutely NEVER thought I would have tried making homemade slime so many years ago.

My biggest thought was how can I ever get it to turn out like the pictures. Then I made some…

And you know what?

Making slime is actually pretty easy. We have a growing handful of homemade slime recipes that I use over and over again.

Yes, Elmer’s Washable School Glue is absolutely fantastic for making slime quickly and easily. That’s exactly why you will see us use it each and every time.

Except, I just want to you know, I am NOT PAID by Elmer’s brand to represent their glue. It just works that well, and my goal is to show you how easily we make our slime every time.

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

CRYSTAL CLEAR SLIME LOOKS LIKE LIQUID GLASS!

We {my son really} stumbled upon one fascinating little tip to really get your slime to look like crystal clear glass, and I will leave that at the very end for you to discover too.

Though, I will tell you, that the best way to achieve crystal clear and glass-like slime is by using our borax slime recipe.

Our other basic slime recipes {although they contain borons too} will leave you with a cloudy clear slime instead unless you add food coloring, but we wanted an absolutely crystal clear slime like liquid glass!

ELMER’S CLEAR GLUE SLIME RECIPE UPDATE

I have a lot of readers express that their clear glue slime seems brittle and crumbly, so you are not alone if you experience this. White glue and clear glue are a bit different in viscosity and make slightly different slimes. I have always found that clear glue slime is simply thicker.

We have been experimenting with the recipe just a bit to find a better ratio of ingredients. So for this easy clear glue slime,  we reduced the amount of borax used.

For maximum stretchable slime,  I would hands down try the saline slime solution recipe as it’s our go-to for easy, stretchy slime making.

However, if you really want to make super clear slime, this is the best recipe!

The secret to stretching slime is to be move slowly and pull gently. Dues to its chemical composition it will break when you pull fast and hard.

Read more about the science below. You can break off small blobs and really stretch them quite thin for a super clean look. You can even watch us make it live on our Facebook page!

 

ELMER’S CLEAR GLUE SLIME SUPPLIES

I always suggest that you check out our recommended slime supplies page if you haven’t already. Additionally, we have a slime troubleshooting page that is good to read through even before making slime!

• 1/2 cup Elmer’s Washable PVAClear Glue
• 1/2 cup water to mix with glue and 1/2 cup of warm water to mix with the borax powder
• 1/4 tsp Borax Powder {laundry aisle}
• Measuring cups, bowl, spoon or craft sticks

MAKING ELMER’S CLEAR GLUE SLIME STEP BY STEP

*Note: We used a full cup of glue for this slime activity. You can also get a nice pile of slime with only a 1/2 cup.*

First Measure out 1 cup of clear glue into a bowl, and then you can go ahead and add 1 cup of water to the glue. Stir to combine. See full steps below photos.

MAKE YOUR BORAX SLIME ACTIVATOR

Measure out 1/2 teaspoon of borax powder and 1 cup of hot water {hot tap water is fine and does not need to be boiled} as seen below. This is best done by adults. If you are halving the recipe, use 1/4 borax powder to 1/2 cup warm water.

Add the borax powder to the water and stir well to combine. This is your slime activator. You are making a saturated solution and you will see a few particles still floating around and settling to the bottom. Spend a minute stirring to make sure the powder is well incorporated.

FORMING YOUR BORAX SLIME

Add the borax slime activator solution {borax powder and water} to the glue/water mixture. Start stirring! Your slime will begin to form instantly. Keep stirring until your slime has formed and remove immediately to a dry container.

With our new ratio of borax powder to water, you should not have any leftover liquid in the bowl. If you do keep stirring. With higher ratios of borax to water, you may have leftover liquid.

Continue to knead slime with your hands for several minutes to improve the consistency of the slime.

MAKE CLEAR SLIME STEP BY STEP

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

STEP 2: Make up your slime activator by mixing together 1/4 tsp borax powder and 1/2 cup warm water in a separate bowl.   Hot tap water is fine and does not need to be boiled. This step is best done by an adult.  Spend a minute stirring to make sure the borax powder is well mixed in.

STEP 3: Add the borax slime activator solution {borax powder and water} to the glue/water mixture. Start stirring!  Your slime will begin to form instantly. Keep stirring until your slime has formed and remove immediately to a dry container.

With our new ratio of borax powder to water, you should not have any leftover liquid in the bowl. If you do keep stirring. With higher ratios of borax to water, you may have leftover liquid.

STEP 4:  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 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 (borax powder) reduces the stickiness, it will eventually create a stiffer slime.  You can always add but you can’t take away!

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE HOMEMADE SLIME RECIPE

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…

• NGSS Kindergarten
• NGSS First Grade
• NGSS Second Grade

ELMER’S CLEAR GLUE SLIME LIQUID GLASS TIP! 

We made this large batch of slime and it was filled with air bubbles, so it wasn’t crystal clear and it didn’t look like glass at all! But it was still a lot of fun and cool to play with too.

We stuck it in a glass container and put a lid on it and it ended up sitting on the counter untouched for a day and a half while we were busy with swim and school and friends.

My son checked on it and noticed that the large air bubbles were much less large.

We let it sit even longer and the bubbles were even smaller and almost nonexistent. Well, there’s only so long you can let the slime sit before playing with it again.

We did test this out on three separate batches of our Elmer’s clear glue slime to just check it out.

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

 

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!

EXTRA SLIMY RESOURCES

HOW DO I FIX MY SLIME?

OUR TOP SLIME RECIPE IDEAS YOU NEED TO MAKE!

READER QUESTIONS ANSWERED!

BEST INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING SLIME!

THE AMAZING BENEFITS THAT COME OUT OF SLIME MAKING WITH KIDS!

Check out even more Elmer’s Glue Slime Recipes to Try! Click on photos below. Or try a basic white Elmer’s glue with your favorite mix-ins!

BEST Homemade Slime Recipes EVER! Click on the photo!

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