This is probably the creepiest and coolest slime you will ever make. If you want to learn how to make magnetic slime, this is about as simple as it get. All you need is our traditional liquid starch slime recipe and the secret, magnetic ingredient for a very exciting science demonstration. Homemade slime is an awesome science {chemistry} and sensory play activity for kids.

HOW TO MAKE MAGNETIC SLIME WITH IRON OXIDE POWDER

We love making homemade slime because it’s just so easy to do, and we have perfected a handful of awesome slime making recipes that anyone can make at home or in the classroom.

Now it’s time to step it up a notch and learn how to make magnetic slime! It’s truly an ultra cool slime that my son can’t get enough of playing with whenever we make it. Plus neodymium magnets are super neat to use too.

Awhile back we made a very simple magnet slime by adding contents of our favorite magnet kit to our regular white glue homemade slime recipe. That was super fun when my son was younger, but we were ready to step it up a notch.

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There are two very important ingredients needed to make and enjoy this super strong magnetic slime recipe and that is iron oxide powder and a neodymium magnet.

You can also use iron fillings, but we chose the powder when we did a simple search on Amazon for what we wanted. The powder we purchased, although pricey, came well packaged, and will make many batches of slime for us.

A neodymium magnet is also known as a rare earth magnet which is actually pretty different than the regular magnets you are probably accustomed too. A rare earth magnet has a much stronger force field and is made of different materials which is why it works with the iron oxide powder or fillings over a traditional magnet. You can read a little more about these magnets here.

We tested our regular magnetic wand on this iron oxide powder slime and nothing happened! Always have to check and see for yourself! We purchased both a bar shape and cube shape neodymium magnet, but the cube shape was the most fun.

CHECK OUT OUR SLIME SUPPLIES LIST BELOW

Below you can see our cube shaped neodymium magnet engulfed by the magnetic slime. It’s very cool how the slime will complete crawl around the magnet and bury it inside.

MAGNETIC SLIME MAKING SUPPLIES

Black Iron Oxide Powder

Elmer’s Washable White School Glue

Liquid Starch

Water

Measuring Cups, Bowl, Spoon or Craft Sticks

Neodymium Magnets

MAKE MAGNETIC SLIME RECIPE STEP BY STEP

Adult assistance required!

STEP 1: Pour 1/2 cup of glue into a bowl.

STEP 2: Add 1/2 cup of water to the glue and stir to combine.

STEP 3: Add a 1/2 cup of the iron oxide powder and stir to combine. This is probably best left for adults to do as the powder can get everywhere quickly.

We did not find that any of the particles flew around but I would not recommend spending to much time inhaling the open bag.

You will notice that this mixture is more grey to start out with, but the end result will be a very black and glossy color.

STEP 4: Measure out a 1/2 cup of liquid starch and add the glue/water/iron oxide powder mixture.

STEP 5: Stir! Your slime will start to come together immediately but just keep stirring.

It will begin to darken so don’t worry of it still appears gray. There will be liquid leftover from this slime in your bowl. Transfer your slime to a clean, dry container. I would suggest letting it set up for 5-10 mins.

Time to have fun and test out your magnetic slime! Grab your magnets and see what happens.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE HOMEMADE SLIME RECIPE

What’s the science behind the slime? The borate ions in the starch {or borax powder or boric acid} mixes 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.

The addition of water is important to this process to allow for the molecules to flow more freely past one another and make the slime really ooze.

When you add the borate ions to the mixture, it 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 is thicker and rubberier like slime!

*Why doesn’t the neodymium magnet pull out the iron oxide powder?*

Adhesion or adhesive forces is the reason for this! Adhesion is dissimilar properties attracting to each other and this case it’s the polymer {slime} and the iron oxide powder. Cohesion is when similar particles cling to each other, so we have to make sure to differentiate between adhesion and cohesion for this slimey situation.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE BASICS OF SLIME SCIENCE FOR KIDS

 

We love watching the magnet get swallowed up by the slime. It never gets old.

If you want a truly intriguing science project and science recipe then you totally want to learn how to make magnetic slime with your kids. It’s a fascinating experience, and there is so much to learn.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE MAGNETIC SLIME WITH KIDS!

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