Talk to me about slime!

[BirthdayPlans]

Late to the party as ever! Is it the work of the devil? An interesting toy? Does it stain? Stay slimy? Best recipes? Glitter? What do you keep it in?

DS has a birthday coming up, is it something that would be feasible to make? There will be 6 kids, 6-9 years old, in a small flat so need to keep them occupied. SN means no games are possible.

What other fun science activities are there? Preferably something they can make and take home so I don’t have to worry about party bags.

Optrex is the best activator.
Aldi shaving gel.
PVA glue (in large quantities)
Gel food colouring/glitter

Some trial and error.
You have to keep working it through the sticky phase then it comes together.

Don’t get it on fabric or the dog.

YouTube videos are helpful.

Hours of fun squishing, stretching, making giant bubbles.

Does the glitter stay in the slime or does it get transferred on to anything and everything?

I absolutely hate it with a passion and will not give in to buying it for my Daughters.
They were at a friend's house playing with their slime and my Daughter later began to get tired. After a while she had bright red watery sore eyes and we worked out she was rubbing her eyes, due to being tired, and turns out the slime had been aggravating her eyes. It took ages to calm them down.

All the recipes I've read warn you to wash your hands after using it so I don't think I'll not do it based on that. I hope they're old enough to listen to me. I will see if I can get some warning stickers in case they take it home though.

Have you tried making it into a bouncy ball?

Its ruined many a carpet and is banned in my house.

If you want other ideas op all the kids in my family have sn. Pin the tail on the donkey and pass the parcel still go down well.

Birthday child will not wear a blindfold. There will only be 6 children, he will be the eldest so I don't want the others to think it too babyish because he gets mocked a bit for that at school. I need to find something where it won't be noticeable if he doesn't join in.

We don't have carpet!

My DD makes hers on trays and stores them I. Takeaway containers - also useful so your guests can take it home with them.

Glitter stays in the slime. We’ve used paint to colour it - disaster, made it too wet and transferred. If using bottled food colouring use sparingly. DD aslo used felt tip pens/highlighters to colour hers but we’ve found the gel food colouring works best.

Biscuit/cake decorating as an alternative? But won’t take very long.

The whole process of making the slime and then playing with it will take most of the party, which is why it will work. Wash hands, eat, home (taking slime with them as party bag).

You could always buy ready made slime, or make it yourself beforehand, and get them to add the colours and glitter, beads etc. That would save the disappointment if it doesn't work. Buy some pots with lids so you can put them in party bags to take home.

One of our most successful party activities was 'decorate your own party bag'. I bought big plain paper bags which they decorated with stickers, pens, pencils etc. It kept them busy for ages.

This is the most reliable recipe we've found, no adverse effects here. Just realised I haven't had to make it for a while - craze wearing off at last but might reappear for Hallowe'en I guess!

If you're looking for other ideas that would work well alongside the slime then maybe some potion making? I've been googling recipes all morning to make with my toddler so all very safe, as long as there's parental supervision haha
The ingredients are mostly household things you should already have in so it could be some good fun for them! Especially the ones that fizz and bubble.