homemade slime for toddlers & sensory activity for babies
I remember making slime in elementary school and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. We each got to take a bag of our slime home, and I was so proud showing my parents what I made. Even though slime can be kind of scary with kids (and now I know why) I still have a soft spot for it. My son has really developed over the last couple years and I am beginning to understand what he really enjoys doing. He loves to paint (but not color), build with blocks, do puzzles, and of course - slime. LOTS of slime.
We have made a few "pre-made" concoctions from boxes sold at various stores but they were all terrible. They were either way too sticky or way to liquidy. What I like about making your own slime is that you can tweak the recipe and make it work for you! Plus you can customize it, change the colors, throw in some fun accessories and make multiple batches at a more affordable price.
Grab your ingredients and get started! You will need Saline solution, white school glue, baking soda, foam shaving cream and any additions you would like to add. You can leave it as is for a plain white snow slime or add some fluffy pompoms, glitter, or snowflake sequins for fun.
Measure out your shaving cream and dump it into a large mixing bowl. I didn't coat the measuring cups; it came out quite easily with just a rubber spatula. Coating may disrupt the consistency of the slime. My four year old helped out with this recipe much more than he has before. He really enjoyed playing with the measurements and mixing it up.
Measure out your school glue and add it to the shaving cream. Use the same rubber spatula to scrape the measuring cup and to mix the contents in the bowl. I used some kind of "extra strength" glue and I think it kind of effected the texture. Make sure you get just regular, plain glue.
After you've mixed the shaving cream and glue together, add in your baking soda. Mix together really well and then add in your saline solution. After you have combined all of the ingredients you can add any additional items you would like; such as food coloring dye, beads, sequins, glitter, etc. Make sure to knead the slime together well.
We found this really pretty white/pink glitter that gave our snow slime the perfect shimmer and gleam. We had a lot of fun making this together! It came in a pack of multiple glitter tubes that I got at a craft store like AC Moore or Michaels.
Make sure you really knead all of the ingredients together before you start playing with the slime. This is a key step! This particular slime can be a little sticky. Add some saline solution to your hands before you stretch and squish the slime. The more saline you add, the tougher the slime will get. So be careful as you play... It might be better just to have a little stick to your hands than to ruin the mix.
When you're finished playing, you can store the slime in a sealed container, or a zip lock baggie. The slime will depuff quite a bit over time. The more you play with the slime, the more air bubbles will disappear (from the foam shaving cream). But it is still a lot of fun to play with! The fluffiness of it is super unique and satisfying to squish.
I like putting the slime in the ziplock baggie because it can double as sensory play for a baby! If you are concerned that your baby may be able to open the bag, just simply tape it shut. You can take one long piece of duct tape and fold it in half over the zipper to seal the contents inside. It was nice to have one activity double for both of my kids!
They both had fun playing with the slime in their own ways.
That's it! (Isn't it so beautiful?!) Let me know how you make out with this recipe and what fun add-ins you find to mix! Feel free to tag me on my social media pages if you make this with your kids. I'd love to see what you come up with! Don't forget to subscribe to my email newsletters by clicking the button below, so that you never miss an issue!
Fluffy Snow Slime Recipe:
1/2 cup of white washable PVA school glue
3 cups of foam shaving cream
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon saline solution (contains both sodium borate and boric acid as ingredients)
any additional mix-ins such as food coloring, beads, pompoms, glitter, etc.
Get creative and have fun!
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