Sunday, May 1, 2016

Edible Slime

It's called a slime but reminds me more of a flubber. Until it doesn't. Anyhow, Friday we tried out a new sensory recipe and it was a huge hit! As I've said before, I try my hardest to find sensory activities that all kids can take part in: baby to school age. Which means I need most things to be better than nontoxic, I need it to be completely safe to eat.

I have come across this edible slime recipe from Growing A Jeweled Rose some time ago. I've never tried the edible slime recipe before now because, well, it sounded gross. It is made with Metamucil after all. It also takes longer to whip up. The recipe requires heating in the microwave and allowing quite a bit of cooling time. Those were all factors that had kept me from trying it out. Honestly, the only reason I did try it out was because it was the simplest recipe I could find in the form of truly edible slime. However, by round 2 of slime making, I had it down so the process went very quick.

The true test came when I let the kids loose with it. The babies rubbed it into their legs and then ate it of course. The oldest kids wanted to do taste tests with it as well just because they could. My favorite part of play time was all of the experimenting the kids did with it. They wanted to see how far it would stretch, what happened if they stepped on it, what happened if they rubbed it into the ground, what happened if they threw it on the floor, what sounds did it make with they pulled it, squashed it, and tossed it into the air. That right there is the reason I love to do sensory activities. It can grow their minds in so many ways.


Round one of slime playing included grape (purple) Kool Aid slime, cherry (red) Kool Aid slime, orange Kool Aid slime, and then blue, green, and yellow all made with food coloring. Adding in the Kool Aid seems to be the favorite option among the kids as it gave them more to experiment with.



It's VERY important to let the slime cool completely! If it's warm in the least, it is incredibly sticky. Also note that as the kids play with it and it warms in their hands it becomes more sticky. However, unlike regular slime made with glue, this is a very easy wash off. The food coloring or Kool Aid will stain their hands, but will wash off (with several soapy hand washes).


Some colors DID NOT get a taste test thumbs up.


The more they played with the slime, the warmer it became, and the more like jello it became. It was still a fairly easy clean up and easily wiped off of clothes, hair, diapers, etc.



"The slime makes a fun splatting noise when it hits the floor!" the kids observed.


After all of the slime throw, the floor became slippery. So the kids pretended they were ice skating at a skating rink.

The after math of Round 1.


Slime playing Round 2 included orange Kool Aid slime, strawberry Kool Aid slime, blue raspberry Kool Aid slime, cherry Kool Aid slime, pink lemonade slime, and lemonade slime. I had leftover lemonade mix (in the back of my cupboard from last summer's Lemonade Stand, it was kinda gross, but it worked great for the slime). I had to add more lemonade mixture than I did to the colors made with Kool Aid but it worked just as well.


Taste testing Round 2


The minis hosted a slumber party Friday night and got their school friends involved in the slime playing. Read more about that and their sleepover here.




After Round 2 of slime experimenting and "ice skating" I had the older kids help with clean up. I was pleasantly surprised how helpful they were with clean up and not one complaint was heard for such a big job.

We will definitely me making this slime again! The kids thought it's the perfect consistency to do a Slime Ball Fight this summer in the backyard!