As a kid, it’s always fun to get into the kitchen and see what you can make by mixing random things together. Turns out, you can make slime and quicksand pretty easily! These are great to do when the kids are bored and you are running out of ideas.
HOW TO MAKE SLIME WITH GLUE AND BORAX
White Glue (8 oz bottle)
Borax (at grocery stores)
Large mixing bowl
2 Plastic cups
Spoon
Measuring cup
Food coloring (optional)
Water
Zip-lock bag (to put the slime in when you’re done)
Water
- Measure 1/2 cup of warm water into a plastic cup and add a teaspoon of Borax powder to the water. Stir – it doesn’t have to completely dissolve.
- In the other plastic cup, pour the entire bottle of glue and a cup of water. Stir well. (Add food coloring, if desired.)
- Pour both cups into the large mixing bowl. Stir with a spoon and then get all ooey-gooey with your hands!
- You made slime! Keep it in your ziplock bag when you’re done playing with it!
One more cool thing…
HOW TO MAKE “QUICKSAND” WITH CORNSTARCH AND WATER
Cornstarch (about a cup)
1 cup water
Mixing bowl
Your hands!
- Pour the cornstarch into the bowl.
- Pour the water into the bowl.
- Mix with your hands.
This is called a “non-Newtonian” solution because it doesn’t behave the way Sir Isaac Newton said a solution should behave. Make a ball with it and hold the ball in your hands. What does it do? It becomes a liquid again!
I made quicksand or what we called “Oobleck” last year win my students as a properties of matter experiment. They were to decide if it was a solid or a liquid.
That’s what this is! Isn’t it cool?
We loved it. They were even allowed to take some home. I also showed them the clip from Ellen that showed people running across it. It’s the neatest stuff ever.
I know! My kids are expert slime makers. They’ve been making slime videos for the past 5 years and still love it!
Janelle, you should have your kiddos check out the kids Ponder Monster site. They’ve worked really hard and have some cool stuff on there!
I will totally do that. It looks great!