How To Make Ice Cream (3 Flavors

This chemical makeup is why glue pours so wonderfully smooth, although it is much less wonderful when poured over your laptop, as happened to me today. When you add other ingredients, such as liquid starch or Borax, the polymers stick to each other and get bunched up. It’s these stuck together polymers that give slime its stretchy texture, rather than the more liquid state it appears in the bowl after mixing. When you leave the slime alone, the polymer molecules relax and line up again, letting the slime become more liquid. Substances with these properties are called non-Newtonian fluids which basically means they don’t behave like other fluids. At room temperature, slime can be mostly solid or mostly liquid, depending on whether you’re handling it or not.
There are several different types of non-Newtonian fluids that are lots of fun to experiment with, but these tend to be messier than slime. My favorite alternative is cornstarch and water, which I personally can play with for hours, but which makes a colossal mess. For more on the properties of non-Newtonian fluids and the science behind slime, I strongly recommend reading this piece by Brian Rohrig. As with most things, slime projects are best undertaken with a bit of planning, supervision, and attention. First, depending on the age of your kiddos, you’ll want to at least be on hand for the measuring and mixing.
For example, while my kids are ok measuring out the glue, I’d prefer to handle mixing chemicals such as Borax or liquid starch. Similarly, Mom handles the glitter at my house, but kids can help with the food coloring. Older kids can probably tackle more of the ingredients on their own. If so, be sure it’s clear which utensils and materials are ok for use. No, the lovely wooden salad bowl is not ok for use! Kids of all ages can help with mixing as well, but it is faster if you just stir it up yourself- as with all kids crafts, ha! When complete, kids should have an easy to clean surface to play on, and I prefer to keep it off the carpet.
Because yes, I’ve pulled little bits of dry and moist slime from my carpet fibers and it’s just not my favorite thing to do. When play time is finished, I give each kid a plastic zipper bag or mason jar to store their concoction until the next time. I find that hairs and lint and dust and whatever else become instantly enmeshed in the slime which is a little annoying, and depending on your perspective, a bit gross. Toss played out slime in the garbage can where it is out of the reach of pets and tiny little ones. Also, keep your eye on kids while they play.