Slime is always a win in my house. My son could chill at his sensory table for what feels like forever and I LOVE it…I NEED it! Although we have a lot of store-bought slime, I still prefer to make my own.
Along with the basic recipe, I use *Sargent Art 22-6210 10-Count 4-Ounce Watercolor Magic* to get the great colors. I add a little for pastel or add a few more drops for darker hues. These watercolors can be diluted with water to increase their longevity but it doesn’t at all change the color vibrancy. Plus, unlike food coloring, it washes off your hands and clothes easily. Controlled messy play! WHAT? True-story! I’m seriously in love with these watercolors and they are infinitely better and more versatile than watercolor cakes.
My X-Men helped out for a little bit, before I took over to finish up the other colors. He gets a bigger kick out of the finished product when he doesn’t help from start to finish anyway.
How to make Pastel Easter Literacy Slime:
MATERIALS & INGREDIENTS:
- mixing cups (I use Solo cups)
- measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- 2 stirring utensils
- medium mixing bowl
- napkins or towel (incase you’re as messy as me)
- Borax (laundry section of stores…its powder in a box, not a jug)
- warm water
- clear school glue
- liquid watercolor paint (I use *Sargent Art 22-6210 10-Count 4-Ounce Watercolor Magic*)
MEASUREMENTS & DIRECTIONS:
- 4 oz clear glue + 1 tbsp warm water + liquid watercolors in a cup & mix
- 1 cup of warm water + 1/2 tsp borax in another cup until dissolved
- pour borax water into glue mixture cup & quickly stir until the slime starts to creep up your stir utensil (only takes a few seconds)
- transfer your water slime blob to mixing bowl & knead it until it feels right (not super runny & not sticky). Repeat the steps for all the colors you want.
- I added small plastic letters (from message bracelets purchased at the Dollar Tree), super cute miniature bunny erasers (found at Target in Bullseye’s Playground) and tiny plastic Easter eggs (from Party City).
Here are some activity ideas for playing and learning with this slime:
- Fine Motor: using chopsticks, child tweezers or pointer finger and thumb, pick “things” out of the slime
- Literacy: play Ispy for letter recognition, pick out letters in alphabetical order, spell short words or name
- Speech: say words that begin with each letter found
- Colors: mix 2 colored slimes at a time to observe the changes
- Counting: bunnies, eggs, or letters
- Sorting: letters by color, or by matching letters
- Pretend: the bunnies got trapped in alphabet slime….hahaha…Liam’s idea.
Then when he was done, I tossed the whole thing in a sealable baggy. You can put yours in a container, if you wish. I’ve heard people store it in the fridge to make it last longer, but I just make sure he washes or sanitizes his hands before he plays with it to limit his cooties. When Easter is over, I’ll pick out the trinkets, rinse and dry them before storing them away. I’ve been able to keep our home-made slimes for 2-3 weeks.