With the summer temperatures scorching in late July through August, it has us looking for some indoor activities to beat the heat and keep the kiddos active and tired out for a solid night’s sleep. The slime craze may have come and gone with the school year, but you’ll want to bring it back into the rotation after seeing how these different Elmers glue slime recipes will capture the hearts and minds of your preschoolers. An added bonus, you don’t have to look much further than your own kitchen cupboards to find most of the ingredients you’ll need and voila, hours of fun with minimal mess, a win-win for everyone, amirite?
11 Super Fun Elmer’s Glue Slime Ideas for your kids!
THE SCIENCE BEHIND SLIME
Adding boric acid to glue counteracts the glue and forms a substance like Elmers glue slime that can be shaped and pulled and played with. The slime is able to form when the molecules in the glue crosslink with the boric ions, a bond causing the large molecules to no longer slide freely past each other (like glue).
INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED
- Elmer’s Glue
- Glitter
- Food Coloring
- Gems
- Sand
- Magnets
- Essential Oils
- Ziplock bags
- Jars with lids (mason jars work well)
- Borax
- Baking Soda
- Shaving Cream
- Liquid Starch
- Contact Lens Solution
IDEAS for ELMER’S GLUE SLIME PROJECTS
Crystal clear liquid glass slime
- 1 cup Elmer’s Washable Clear Glue
- Add 1 cup water to mix with glue
- 1 cup warm water to mix with borax powder
- ½ tsp Borax Powder
Galaxy glitter slime
- ½ cup hot water
- ½ tsp borax
- 1 bottle of glitter glue
- 1 cup hot water
- Extra glitter
Rainbow Slime
- Elmer’s clear glue
- Food coloring liquid gel
- Purex Sta-Flo Liquid Starch
- Different colored glitter
Mermaid Slime
- 2 bottles of Elmer’s Glitter Glue
- 1 TBSP of water
- Chunky silver and blue glitter
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ TBSP contact lens solution (must contain boric acid)
Fluffy Slime
- 1 cup white glue
- ¼ water
- food coloring
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup shaving cream
- Contact lens solution (sticker slime=less solution)
Fish in a Bag Slime
- Create blue glitter slime (recipe above) and then add in tiny sea
creatures to make a miniature ocean right before your eyes.
Pirates Booty Slime
- Create any color Elmers glue slime and add in gems and treasures any pirate
would delight in finding!
Sand Slime ”“Great for Sensory Play
- 10 oz. Elmer’s Clear Glue
- ½ cup Liquid Starch
- Play Sand
Magnetic Slime
- Liquid Starch
- Elmer’s Glue
- Iron Oxide Powder
- A neodymium magnet (regular magnets aren’t strong enough)
Immune Support Slime or Sick Day Slime
- ½ cup Elmer’s Glue
- ½ cup liquid starch
- 2 tbsp liquid watercolor
- glitter
- 1 tbsp water
- 1-2 drops of Thieves essential oils (replace with lavender essential oil
for a calming slime)
FUN SLIME ACTIVITIES
Maybe it’s the homeschooler in me, but I never miss an opportunity to turn our projects into fun, organic learning experiences and this is the perfect opportunity to do just that. For early literacy work, try adding letter beads and finding sight words in your Elmers glue slime. You could also use letter magnets to make imprints in the slime and yell out the sounds each letter makes. You could do the same with numbers. Get an early start on geology by adding your favorite crystals or gemstones into the mix for a beautiful seek and find.
For sensory play, the sand recipe next to plain slime would make for a fun texture feeling game. The essential oil recipe also works well for sensory integration, as well as a relaxing calm down game. You can store your slime for up to several weeks in air tight ziplock bags for longer lasting fun.
Added bonus: we were able to find biodegradable glitter on Amazon!
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