Love making slime? Guess what? We do too! That’s why we are always testing out and creating new slime recipes for you. In fact, I put together a free printable slime recipe sheet featuring 5 of our favorite slimes. Kids love awesome slime for both science and sensory play all in one!
PRINTABLE SLIME RECIPES FOR KIDS
EASY SLIME RECIPES
Slime is a ton of fun to make, and it is definitely not as difficult as you might think! We have tested our easy slime recipes dozens of times. Just make sure to follow the recipes closely and use the right ingredients.
We also have a handy list of alternative slime recipes that include fiber slimes, candy slimes, and other variations of slimes that are chemical free. Slime is also terrific tactile sensory play for kids who love a real hands on experience. It’s such a unique texture, and we have quite a few uniquely textured slimes like our homemade floam slime!
Watch a slimy video! Check out more slime videos here!
SLIME SCIENCE
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?
BEST SLIME RECIPES
The base for most of our slime recipes is one of several basic slime recipes that vary depending on the slime activator you use. These are…
We have tons of fun theme variations of these basic slime recipes above. Make sure to get your slime recipe printable at the end. Here are a few of our most popular…
Fluffy Slime Magnetic Slime Cloud Slime Glow In The Dark Slime Galaxy Slime Clear Slime
We have the best resources to look through before, during, and after making your slime!
- BEST Slime Ingredients and Supplies
- How To Fix Slime: Troubleshooting Guide
- Slime Safety Tips for Kids and Adult
- How To Remove Slime from Clothes
My son loves slime, the stretchier the better!
PRINTABLE SLIME RECIPES
Click here to get your FREE printable slime recipes!
MAKE SLIME. IT’S A MUST DO SCIENCE PROJECT!
CLICK HERE FOR COOL SLIMY IDEAS!
I love your site! I just made the Crystal slime with my granddaughter. She loved it. I did change one ingredient. I used Elmer’s classic glitter glue. It worked beautifully! Thanks again for all of your ideas making science fun for kids and adults!
I have tried to make this slime 3 different ways now and it just stays liquid. Can you please tell me exactly what brand and type of glue you’re using? I’ve tried Elmer’s washable clear glue as well as Elmer’s white school glue. I’ve also tried saline and liquid starch thinking that maybe I’m just using something wrong! What liquid starch or saline do you use as well? All 3 ways have not worked!
Hmm…. If you would like to email me at [email protected] , I would be able to help you better!
ratios are important!
keep on adding contact solution until it forms
Can you have kids add glitter or sparlke items after clear slime is made? I was thinking of putting clear slime in sandwich bag, and a variety of sparkle items, food coloring, etc..and the kids could make a choice of what they wanted to have their slime look like.
A word of advice, I would make the saline solution slime recipe and give it a tiny hint of color. The borax slime recipe can be finicky and I think t makes a better science demonstration then a fun play material. Adding food coloring after the fact is definitely harder and messier. However, glitter, sequins, and confetti are fine to add later on!
I had the same issue at first, but I changed the saline solution and it worked perfectly. I used “Re-nu Fresh” saline solution, Elmer’s washable clear glue, baking soda, and water. I think the trick is in the saline solution. For it to work correctly it must contain boric acid and sodium borate.
I hope this helps! Have a great day!
My kid are making a slime with your recipe. But, next day, it turns really watery. ( The container has a water from slime.) How can we fix this issue ? He was making the crystal glue slime & floam slime ).
Driving me crazy after 3 attempts – I am using PVA glue and standard saline for eyes – is this right? Seems to stay as liquid
You need to make sure the ingredients in the saline read as boric acid and sodium borate. Just made two batches today for my new mud slime. Email me at [email protected] for direct help. What brands are you using for glue?
Thanks for your reply. My saline solution is having both ingredients. We will make it again and let you know if it doesn’t work well again.
Make sure you are mixing the glue and water, adding a 1/2 tsp of baking soda and mixing, then adding the tablespoon of saline solution. Whip it up somewhat fast until it forms a sticky glob it might take 30 secs. If its still not coming together, try a bit more saline. On a very rare occasion I have gotten an old batch of glue which just prevents the whole thing from working. Did you use Elmer’s washable PVA school glue or another brand? This also can be an issue.
My kids were missed the amount of baking soda. They were using TBS for baking soda. So, now, they have a perfect slime ! Sorry but thanks for your great recipe !!!
Working on an answer!
My kid are making a slime with your recipe. But, next day, it turns really watery. ( The container has a water from slime.) How can we fix this issue ? He was making the crystal glue slime & floam slime ).
I have been hearing more about this situation lately, but we have only had it happen once. What is your climate like? What kind of container are you using? Any food coloring? Are you transferring it to clean dry container? Are you playing with it for awhile first. I literally have a canister of slime from before Christmas on the counter and it’s been awesome. Feel free to email me at [email protected]