I write a kid activities blog and yet I have never made slime. How can that be? I don't have any good excuse except that neither of my kids have a great appreciation for sensory play. My oldest son flat out refuses to touch anything slimy, gooey or sticky, and his brother is very hesitant.
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... which is why I decided for once and for all it was time to whip up a batch of slime.
With superheroes, of course.
When it comes to slime, there is no better place to look than Asia Citro's new book, 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids: The Very Best and Easiest Playtime Activities from FunAtHomeWithKids.com!
Asia's book is an amazing and diverse collection of every kind of sensory recipe you can think of, from glow in the dark doughs to flax seed goops to slimes. I am totally doing the fizzing dinosaur bath eggs next! Both the boys will love that so much! I really, really wish I'd had it when the boys were babies because I definitely would have introduced sensory play earlier. It also includes non-messy ideas like small world play ideas and window art projects (and you know we love window art!)
Anyway, on to the slime!
For a slime nervous nellie like me, I really appreciated how the book held my hand every step of the way, and even gave alternatives for all the ingredients. Even though the items I needed for slime are commonly available, one of them was not available within a three block radius of my apartment and I don't do "Target runs". (I know! This is NYC, I should have everything on my doorstep! Also, I don't have a car, so there's that.)
Anyway... while I was stirring up this gloopy, orange-y, slimey goodness I was worried that my kids would reject it. They love bubbles, and making big giant messes, but it has taken effort to get hands messy with things like shaving cream.
Then it occurred to me there was one way I could guarantee my 5 year old would take a risk. I would hide his superhero action figures in it!
Genius. (If I do say so myself.)
On the walk home from school, I peaked his interest by telling him that his superheroes were at home, trapped in an orange blob. "They need rescuing!" I declared.
Needless to say, he had nooooo idea what I was talking about.
At first, he didn't want to get his hands in the slime (and his brother did decide to sit this activity out, darn it.) but I started playing with him and he gingerly tried it out.
As you can see from all the photos, he got quite into it.
Doesn't it make you want to whip up a batch of slime for the first (or 100th) time?
If you are looking for some unique and fun ideas (not all of them are messy!) to tempt your kids away from screens, I highly recommend 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids: The Very Best and Easiest Playtime Activities from FunAtHomeWithKids.com!
Happy Playing!
LG says
What fun, my son would love this!!
writersideup says
Erica, this is so great. It's the kind of thing I'll probably do with my grandchildren-to-be. Slime became a big part of our lives when my son LOVED the Ghostbusters 🙂
Erica MomandKiddo says
Oh my goodness, I forgot about Ghostbusters! Yes, that would be a fun connection.