How to Make Fluffy Slime

I could have also easily titled this blog post "How to make your 10-year-old super happy on her summer break".  I don't know if you have any small fry underfoot this summer, but my youngest has been asking me non stop to make "slime".  Ah, slime. It sounds so appetizing, no? Not just any slime though mind you, she wanted to make the most super dee-duper fluffiest slime in the known universe! If your kids watch any YouTube videos at all, they will have most likely come across at least one form of a "slime" recipe or another, if not millions of them.

Slime - Fluffy squishy fun for all!

It's pretty, it's colorful, it feels fun and funky -  and sometimes makes fart noises...what's not to love? Plus when you whip some up, it feels a bit like a science experiment. Luckily my 10-year old had done some "extensive" online  research before presenting me with the ultimate slime recipe (in her opinion) that was decidedly the fluffiest on the internet.  We found our recipe here on YouTube and thanks to Gillian for the great how to video.

Slime can be made with some things that you can find around your house, and then some things you might have to pick up at the store.  These are the things we used for our first time recipe: 

The ingredients for super fluffy slime

Ingredients:

Elmer's glue (1/2 cup)
Shaving cream (1/2 cup)
Corn starch (1 tablespoon)
Food Coloring (few drops)
Hand lotion (few squirts)
Hand soap (original called for foaming hand soap we didn't have -  two squirts)
Borax 
Water

*Also it's good to note we used all glass containers so we could sanitize them properly after (as opposed to plastic that might absorb the soap residues)   

First thing you want to do is get 1 cup of water in a glass measuring cup and add 1 teaspoon of Borax.  Stir with a metal spoon until dissolved and set aside.

Next you want to get 1/2 cup of glue.  I didn't want to use our measuring cups we cook with, so we measured out in this glass mini bowl what a 1/2 cup would be first, so we knew where to pour to make a 1/2 cup.

We started blogging on the 2nd batch of slime, hence the already used bowls

Next you want to add a 1/2 cup of shaving cream.

shaving cream expands all fluffy-like and this was our second batch where we were making a bit more

After that, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.

I was okay using our measuring spoons because cornstarch is normally in the food category

 Mix together those three ingredients until blended well

We used a metal spoon while mixing in the glass bowl

Now you want to add a few squirts of hand lotion. We were told on the YouTube video this would make the slime "stretchy"

Just two squirts of hand lotion

The next part of the recipe called for a few squirts of foaming hand soap, which we didn't have, so we just put in a couple squirts of regular hand soap, which made it smell very nice.

We had soft soap on hand

Mix together until smooth

RESIST the attempt to believe this is whipped cream.  Do not lick the spoon.  Do not lick the spoon!

Now you can add whatever food coloring you want.

The first time she did pink, the 2nd batch of slime she picked blue.

And blend until the color starts to come out.

Now here's the most "science-y" part of the experiment.  You want to slowly add the borax/water mixture 1 tablespoon at a time into the bowl.

And as soon as your start to stir, the things in the bowl start to come together a bit.

Then you add a little more borax water... and a ball starts to form

Add a little more and it starts pulling away from the bowl and onto itself. At this point you can pick it up and start working it a bit like bread dough

We added a little more of the borax liquid and she was stretching and forming it into a ball.

A few more drops of the liquid and it started to get really shiny and come together pretty good!

Wow an official ball of fluffy slime!!

Success!  One of the fun things to do with slime is to poke your fingers in it like you are making some focaccia bread and it makes this marvelous "sucking" sound when you pull your fingers out of it.

Blue fluffy focaccia slime.

We had made a pink batch before we started blogging, and that one got the finger treatment as well!

It also looks fun as a perfect rounded ball, it can take on many shapes!

Also, when you tear it apart, there are supposed to be many fluffy bubbles in the middle.

Light and fluffy!!

Ooo and the most fun thing about fluffy slime is the way it can stretch "a million miles" according to most 10-year-olds.

Stretchy, fluffy, just like taffy

I mean, come on now, look how happy and proud she is that she made her own fluffy slime!!
 

Then, she wanted to know what would happen if she mixed a little of the pink and blue together, would it make purple??

Adding two colors together, at first they stayed in stripes, eventually they blended.

She wanted a brighter purple, so we added some food coloring right to the small ball and she worked it in until the color got a bit darker

Pink, purple, and blue fluffy slime!

We were also told to store these in an air tight container or a Ziploc plastic bag where you squish all the air out of it and store it in the fridge to make it last longer.  

It's also a good idea to wash your hands before and after playing with the slime and definitely keep it off the ground or anywhere it could attract hair, dirt, or crumbs (see where my hate of all things play doh related in one of my first ever blog rants.. here) to keep it at it's fluffy, slimy best!  

All and all this was a fun little craft and she loved every second of it.  It has been two days since we created "the slime" and she is still playing with the stuff.  Hooray for easy fun summer activities that keep the girls busy and hold their attention.  Yay!


 

Balloon Rockets

While cleaning out some large storage baskets we usually use for backpacks and school stuff (prepping for the new school year to start), we found a bag of unused party balloons.  I had seen something on pinterest about making balloons into rockets with just a few items like string and tape and thought this might be a good day to get "science-y".  Not only did we learn about action, reaction, force, and propulsion, we also had a ton of fun.  

Balloon Rockets!

 Here's what you will need to make your own:

String or yarn
Straws
Balloons
Tape ($1 store duct tape worked best)
Large-eyed needle
Bamboo skewer
Two chairs or two places to tie string between 

First, cut off the bendy end of the straw so you have just a straight piece left

Take your string or yarn and thread the large-eyed needle.  Place the needle in the tip of the straw.  Use the bamboo skewer to push the needle down the straw until it comes out the other end.

The bamboo skewer is the KEY to getting this floppy yarn through the straw.  It will save you much frustration.

Take a wide piece of $1 store duct tape about 5 inches long and place it over the middle of the straw.

Now you want to tie your yarn off in two place and make sure the string is very taut between the two points.  We used our stairs and a door knob.

You can also use two chairs, or two objects outside if the weather is nice.  The two points we selected also had different elevations.  The stairs connection was higher than the door knob finish line.

Now came the part where we blow up our first balloon

It's important to color coordinate your balloon with your current outfit, right?

Now the trickiest part comes (and it helps to have two sets of hands here) but while squeezing the end of the balloon and not letting any air escape, gently attach the wide duct tape to the top of the balloon. 

Make sure the balloon is facing the direction you want to launch it, with the "exhaust" blower in the back and the round part of the balloon facing forward.  After that... you are ready to activate the launch sequence.... 3...2...1...

"Huston, we are a GO for blast off"

 PShhhzooom....

When it reaches the end of it's ride, it will look floppy and sad.  But the nice thing is the $1 store duct tape holds onto the balloon in the right place and you are ready to launch again

Well you can't have three kids and only one balloon rocket.  So we set up another launching path

We made track #2 at a lower elevation so we could have rocket RACES!

Again.  It is important to color coordinate your attire and balloon color...

My middle child thought that a larger balloon would travel faster. We found out that a larger balloon would have traveled farther (if our string had been longer) but it launched at the same speed as the purple balloon.  The only bonus was that the pink balloon would reach the end of the track and still have some air left over.  It would spin around and make that satisfying raspberry sound, which spurned on even more giggles.  After that we had an afternoon of zipping and racing.  It was a rocket balloon extravaganza!

a

Ready, set, GO!

Zooooom!!

Oh and P.S., by the way, here's a bonus tip: Don't forget to cut down your strings if you have them precariously strung through your house as we did.  Otherwise, it turns into one of those laser security gymnastics "mission impossible" limbo games just to open the front door...

I picture Catherine Zeta Jones in a skin tight leotard leaping over and under the laser wires....

This was a fun and easy game, the girls just loved it.  I've also heard you can use those longer oblong balloons if you want to try for something a little more aerodynamic.  We might just attempt those next time. I also saw some bonus plans for a rocket balloon car made out of a water bottle.  I'll keep you posted.  Hey, let us know if you make some balloon rockets for your kids or grandkids and how they turned out.