An awesome the Lorax theme activity for Earth Day, Dr. Seuss Day, or any day! Both Read Across America and Earth Day are perfect for our planet Earth slime activity! Learn how to make slime with kids with our proven slime recipes that won’t fail. We can show you slime making ideas you will love!
TRY THIS FUN THE LORAX ACTIVITY FOR EARTH DAY!
THE LORAX PLANET ACTIVITY
We have a ton of great Dr Seuss activities all with themes for our favorite Dr. Seuss books! Make sure to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with a little science too!
THE LORAX THEME SLIME
What’s the science behind this The Lorax theme slime? 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…
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 thicker and rubberier like slime!
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!
SLIME FOR NGSS: Did you know that slime aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards? It does and you can use slime making to explore states of matter and its interactions. Read more about slime science here!
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 TO MAKE SLIME
I always encourage my readers to read through the recommended slime supplies list and troubleshooting guide before making slime. Learn how to stock your pantry with the best slime ingredients.
Where Do I buy Liquid Starch? We pick up our liquid starch in the grocery store! Check the laundry detergent aisle and look for the bottles marked starch. Ours is Linit Starch (brand). You might also see Sta-Flo as a popular option. You can also find it on Amazon, Walmart, Target, and even craft stores.
“But what if I don’t have liquid starch available to me?”
This is a pretty common question from those who live out of the United States, and we do have some alternatives to share with you. Click on the link below to see if any of these will work! Our saline solution slime recipe also works well for Canadian and UK readers.
LORAX EARTH DAY SLIME
Combine science, sensory play, and literacy into one very hands-on activity all kids will love to try! A pie plate was the perfect base for our Earth slime. My son really loves when I make more than one batch of slime for our activities. The mixing part is so much fun. Plus, what’s left is a huge batch of slime for awesome sensory play! For this Lorax slime we made two batches of the recipe, one green and one blue.
YOU WILL NEED:
- 1/2 Cup of Elmer’s Washable PVA Clear Glue or White Glue
- 1/4 Cup of Liquid Starch
- 1/2 Cup of Water
- Food coloring
- Copy of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax!
HOW TO MAKE LIQUID STARCH SLIME
STEP 1: In a bowl mix 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup of glue. Mix well to combine completely.
STEP 2: Now’s the time to add your color. We made a batch with green food coloring and another batch with blue food coloring for our Earth Day theme. Mix the color into the glue and water mixture.
STEP 3: Pour in 1/4 cup of liquid starch. You will see the slime immediately start to form. Keep stirring until you have a gooey blob of slime. The liquid should be gone!
STEP 4: Start kneading your slime! It will appear stringy at first but 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!
STEP 5: Have fun!
MORE AWESOME DR SEUSS ACTIVITIES
DR SEUSS MATH ACTIVITY: PATTERNING IN MATH
BARTHOLOMEW AND THE OOBLECK ACTIVITY
Click on the image below or on the link for more fun Earth Day activities for kids.
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!
Perfect activity for kids in a Science class. I’m sure my students will enjoy this.