Slime Recipes

Homemade Slime

This is a fun and easy slime to make. Make it with white glue for opaque slime, or glue gel for translucent slime.

Materials

• Elmer's white glue or Elmer's school glue gel
• Borax (find in the laundry detergent aisle of the store)
• Water
• Two bowls
• Food coloring (optional)

What to do:

1. In one bowl mix 1/2 cup (4 oz) glue and 1/2 cup water. Add food coloring if you want colored slime.
2. In the other bowl, mix 1 teaspoon borax with 1 cup water until the borax is dissolved.
3. Add the glue mixture to the borax solution, stirring slowly.
4. The slime will begin to form immediately; stir as much as you can, then dig in and knead it with your hands until it gets less sticky. (No one makes slime without getting a little messy!) Don't worry about any leftover water in the bowl; just pour it out.

What's happening?

The glue has an ingredient called polyvinyl acetate, which is a liquid polymer. The borax links the polyvinyl acetate molecules to each other, creating one large, flexible polymer. This kind of slime will get stiffer and more like putty the more you play with it.

Store it in a plastic bag in the fridge, to keep it from growing mold.

Super Slime

This slime is similar to the one above, but creates a less rubbery and more transparent slime. This is the real gooey deal! (This slime is non-toxic, but still keep these chemicals away from unsupervised children and wash your hands after playing with the slime.)

Materials:

• Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)
• Borax
• Water
• Graduated cylinder or measuring cups and spoons
• Food coloring (optional)

What to do:

1. Make a 4% solution of polyvinyl alcohol: Stir 1.5 teaspoons (approx. 4g) of PVA into 1/2 C (approx 100 ml) of water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover the bowl and microwave for 1 minute, then stir. Microwave another 30 seconds and stir. Continue until all the PVA is dissolved. A slight film may have formed on top; you can remove that with a spoon. You can add food coloring if you want colored slime. Allow the solution to cool.
2. Make a 4% borax solution by stirring a little less than 2 teaspoons (approx. 4g) of Borax into 1/2 cup of water.
3. Pour the cooled PVA solution into a ziplock bag and add 2 teaspoons (10ml) of the borax solution.
4. Zip the bag and knead it until the chemicals are mixed into slime. Then scoop it out and play with it. 

What's happening?

While water is a liquid made up of individual H2O molecules, polyvinyl alcohol is formed of long chains of connected molecules, making it a liquid polymer. (The term polymer comes from the words for "many parts.") The borax acts as a "cross-linker," linking the individual PVA chains to each other so they connect to form a blob of slime. It does this linking job when the borax molecules form hydrogen bonds with molecules present in the PVA chains. (The partial positive charge of hydrogen atoms attracts the partial negative charge of oxygen atoms.) Since hydrogen bonds are weak, they can break and reform as you play with the slime or let it ooze on a flat surface.

Your slime will last for a while if you seal it in a plastic bag and keep it in the fridge.

Other fun home recipes:

• Make glue and slime from milk in these polymer & slime experiments
• Use glue and borax to make a colorful bouncy ball
• Mix up some "quicksand" with cornstarch and water

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