Your Kids Would Love To Slime You

Your kids would love to slime you

By Joseph Parish

As a parent of a school age child, you are no doubt familiar with slime. That's right, I am talking about that stretchy, ooey gooey toy product which kids are going ape over. It’s that same toy merchandise that is readily available in any department or toy store in America. Naturally, as you watch the kids playing with this costly Mattel toy you may actually wonder why you ever purchased it for them originally.

Slime has been being manufactured by Mattel since the middle of the 70's. This popular toy consists of a viscous type of oozing green substance that is formulated from guar gum and marketed in a small plastic trash can type container. Various types of slime have been introduced to the public over the years and has included slime with rubber insects, worms or small rubber eyeballs.

As mentioned above the chemical composition is by and large a polysaccharide guar gum combined with some sodium tetraborate. Although without an entire laboratory you would not be able to duplicate the original formula, however you can effectively craft a suitable substitute to take its place. You can readily find numerous recipes for homemade slime on the internet or by way of a child's chemistry lab book. Since most of the recipes are of a simple nature your children will enjoy making their own slime as well as playing with it at a later date.

Here is a project that will keep them engaged for several hours. This recipe requires no cooking or any other methods that would need heat. As an added bonus, there are no special tools necessary so children are not placed in any sort of danger. The only downfall of this undertaking is that it has the capabilities of becoming a messy endeavor which perhaps would not really bother the kids as much as it would the adults.

In order to create your own slime, you will need the following equipment, one small size mixing bowl, a teaspoon and a wooden stirring spoon. As for the ingredients they are listed below.

Ingredients

1 cup of white Elmer's glue

1 teaspoon of Borax powder

2 1/3 cups of distilled water, divided between 1 cup and 1 1/3 cups

12 drops of your favorite food coloring

To begin the project, mix the white glue with 1 cup of water using the small mixing bowl and add 1 teaspoon of the borax powder. Mix the combination well. Uncolored slim will have an opaque white tint to it so if you are planning to add colors to the slim you should do so now with either the red, yellow or blue food coloring. 12 drops of your selected color are all that should be necessary. Stir well after adding the food coloring to the mixture.

After you have mixed the colors into the slime if you discover that you want a deeper color merely add another 3 or 4 drops of the food coloring and mix it once again. Try to use as little of the coloring agent as you can since too much will contribute to staining the child's hands.

Take the slime which you have just made and knead it with your hands until it feels fairly dry to the touch. Ignore any water that may still be in the small bowl. The more you play with the slime the firmer it becomes while the stickiness tends to disappear. Never use any type of glue other than Elmer's white glue as most of the current school glues simply fail to have the correct composition for this project. It goes without saying that you should never put the slime in your mouth. Although it isn't toxic, it isn't exactly good for you either.

Place your unused slime in a Ziploc bag and store it in the refrigerator in order to prevent the formation of mold. Who knows you may discover a new found interest in being slimed!

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