Slime Science

Have you jumped on the slime bandwagon yet? If not, today is the perfect day to give it a try. Most recipes only call for 3 or 4 ingredients and it's much easier to make than you are probably thinking.

Why slime?

First of all, slime is fun! It's an incredible sensory experience for the kids as they dig in and get gooey, but it doesn't leave a big mess behind for you to clean up. The sensation of slime being squeezed between fingers and toes, of stretching, pulling, and rolling the slime between palms can be very intriguing and also very relaxing for a child. (And an adult, too!)

Secondly, there is some awesome science to learn from making slime! When you mix borax and glue together you are making a polymer. You can think of a polymer like a chain or a ladder. It's lots of little chemical pieces (called monomers) that hook together to make a long, strong strand. Many synthetic materials are polymers such as plastic, nylon, and styrofoam. Polymers exist in nature, too, in the forms of DNA and proteins.

Below I have included the gooiest, slimiest, most tried and true recipes from across the interwebs. I tried to include several recipes that are each distinctly different from one another. You can experiment to come up with your own creations, too!

Standard GAK from Yours Truly
This 4-ingredient recipe is quick and easy to make and will delight the kiddos several times over.

Bat Slime from Little Bins for Little Hands
Slime with a Halloween twist! You could vary this according to the season or holiday so you have a festive slime all year round. ("Festive slime", that's really something I never thought I would write.)

Glow in the Dark Slime from Left Brain Craft Brain
Who doesn't love stuff that glows in the dark? Make the dough and then read the science behind what makes something glow in the dark here.

Lego Slime from Lemon Lime Adventures
A slightly different consistency than standard GAK, this is a must-try. Add some Lego pieces in there and you've got yourself a real party!

Galaxy Slime from Twodaloo
This is the most gorgeous slime out there! Plus it makes some pretty awesome gigantic bubbles!

Edible Slime from Fun at Home With Kids
Do you have a baby or toddler that wants to join in the fun? Make this edible edition and you don't have to worry about what happens if your little one taste tests your slime!

Bubbling Slime from Epic Fun for Kids
I seriously saved the best for last here. Apparently it bubbles for a solid 24 hours!

*If your slime doesn't come out exactly as expected head over to this trouble-shooting guide. Asia at Fun at Home with Kids is the slime goddess :) And yes, that's a HUGE compliment!

Saturday Science

And now on to our Saturday Science linky party! Check out our wonderful co-hosts and link up your recent science activities:

Hands-On Learning About Fossils from Stir the Wonder

Science Activities Around the House from Little Bins for Little Hands

An InLinkz Link-up

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Halloween Window Gel Clings

Back in April I posted a recipe to make your own window gel clings. The ones we made in April caught the warm rays from the sun all spring and summer until my five-year-old decided it was time to start decorating for Halloween. We replaced our spring window jellies with a spooky Halloween version this week.

Please note: This is the first time I have EVER decorated my house for Halloween. You are witnessing something special here, folks :) I'm usually much lazier than this. Last year my son wanted to decorate our house so bad, so I sent him to the neighbor's house to help them decorate their house for Halloween instead. I didn't get off so easy this year :)

We used orange, black, red, and green food coloring this time. We used the gel food coloring instead of the regular food coloring we used last time, and I can honestly say I didn't notice a difference. Both work just fine. I left out the glitter this time around. It will probably come back out for our winter/Christmas themed jellies :)

We had four cookie cutters - a ghost, a pumpkin, a cat, and a bat. The window jellies turned out wonderful and the kids loved playing in the leftovers. The gelatin is cold and squishy - a great sensory experience for the kiddos!

Also, don't look too close at my dirty windows! They are clean on the inside, I swear. And if I clean the outside, they just get dirty again and that's not good enough for me!

Be sure to check out my previous post for the entire easy how-to and enjoy!

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Water Power

The dog days of summer are upon us. We have been playing in water of one form or another every single day. There is the beach, the splash parks, the sprinklers, the swimming pools...and science experiments.

This experiment, constructed of very simple supplies, demonstrates how a hydroelectric power station works. Many dams produce hydroelectric power by harnessing the incredible power of falling water to turn enormous wheels (called turbines) that then drive machines (called generators) that produce electricity. The Hoover Dam is one of the largest dams of this kind, providing electricity to Arizona, Nevada, and California.

This idea came from 50 Science Things to Make & Do, one of our very favorite science activity books. Ready to see how water power works? Let's get started.

Total Time: 30 minutes to make your bottle, then only a minute to do the experiment
Safety Concerns: An adult will need to do the cuts in the bottle. Because the plastic is slippery, cutting it can be dangerous for anyone!

Materials You Need:
A two-liter bottle
Scissors
Thumbtack
Pencil
2 straws, cut into 1-inch long pieces
Tape
String
A pitcher full of water

Directions:

• Cut the top off the bottle. If there are sharp edges be sure to put some tape over them so nobody gets hurt!
• Using the thumbtack, poke six holes around the base of the bottle. Use the pencil to widen the holes. Don't be dainty here, it takes some real muscle to make those holes!
• Push a straw piece into each hole and secure it with tape.
• Make three holes at the top of the bottle and tie a piece of string through each hole. Each string should be about the same length.
• Tie all the strings to a fourth piece of string at the top.
• Making sure you are outside or in a bathtub, pour water into the bottle and watch it spin as the water pours out of the straws!

Print These Instructions

Check out our video when we did this experiment. I apologize in advance for the background noise: we live on a very busy street! When we do this experiment again we are going to put the holes for the straws lower. We found that the more water in the bottle, the faster it spun around, so putting the straw holes further down should make it spin faster. It would also be fun to experiment with bottles that are taller/shorter and see if it makes a difference if you put more or less straw holes in the bottom. We have a lot of hypotheses to test!

Want more plastic-bottle-inspired fun? Check out the amazing upcycling some people are doing with their two-liter bottles and caps.

Also makes a great bath toy! Or a tacky Christmas tree ornament!

Head on over to 123Homeschool4Me to get tons of free kid activities for the weekend!

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DIY Window Gel Clings

Window gel stickers? Window jellies? Window gels? I really don't know what they are called, but my kids love them. How would you like to make your own gel clings that are not only cute, but also edible? I thought so.

Now before you think I have gone too artsy on the Science Kiddo, just stay tuned. There is a ton of science your kids can learn from this in addition to it being a great creative outlet and fun activity for you to do as a family.

It's really simple and only takes a few ingredients. Our window jellies turned out beautiful and fun, just in time to catch the sun's warm spring rays in our window.

Total Time: About 10 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes to color, 10 minutes to cut out with some waiting time between each step
Safety Concerns: You will need to boil water for this. Just watch your kids around hot water and the resulting hot gelatin. Let it cool a bit before your kids get close.

Materials You Need:

Four cups of boiling water
Six packets of unflavored gelatin
Food coloring and glitter of your choice
A toothpick
One large cookie sheet with a rim or two 9 x 13 casserole dishes
Cookie cutters
Spatula


Directions:

• Add the gelatin to the hot water. Stir to make sure it all dissolves and spoon out any bubbles.
• Pour your mixture into you cookie sheet or casserole dishes. You want it to be about half an inch thick. It doesn't have to be exact, but it is best if it is level. Bowls won't work very well since the gelatin won't be a uniform depth.
• Once gelatin is cooled a bit (10-15 minutes), have fun dropping food coloring into your gel and swirling it around with your toothpick. Sprinkle it with glitter if you desire. You probably only have about 30 minutes before the gelatin starts to harden!

• Let the gelatin harden. It should only take 30-60 minutes, but you can leave it out overnight if you desire. Since it's super-concentrated it hardens quickly without being in the refrigerator. We usually leave our gelatin over night and cut it out in the morning because it seems to stay together a bit better that way.
• Once it has set use cookie cutters to cut out shapes or cut out your own shapes using a butter knife.
• Use a spatula to lift your gel shapes out of the pan. Don't worry if they tear because you can simply mold them back together. Stick them to your windows and enjoy!

Print These Instructions

*Please Note: I have had some readers say their gel clings were too wet or heavy and didn't stick to the window. If this happens to you, simply leave your pan of gelatin out uncovered overnight and try again in the morning. If they are still too heavy, leave them again until the next day. Each day, water evaporates out of the gelatin, making it stickier and lighter, thus more likely to stick to your window!

Easy, right? One thing I love about decorating the gelatin is that it is much more viscous, or thicker, than water. This means that you can decorate each corner differently and the colors/glitter won't run into each other. You can customize the colors and shapes for whatever holiday or season you want!

If you want to incorporate more science into this activity you could pour some water into a pan, drop colors into it, and compare how it behaves differently from the gelatin mixture. Then do the same thing with vegetable oil. (We did this in our Color Bombs experiment.) You could also observe how your window gels evaporate after a few days on the window, leaving behind paper-thin dry shapes.

Note: You probably won't be able to take these jellies off your window and put them back on more than a few times before they tear beyond repair. They are slightly more delicate than the window gels you buy at the dollar store.

Thanks for the great idea, Kitchen Pantry Scientist! 

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GAK Attack!

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.

Ah, Halloween.The time for all kinds of slimy, gooey, gross things to be honored and celebrated. Personally, I don't care for the slimy variety, but I am betting your kids do. So let's learn how to make our own Halloween ooey, gooey, gakkey goodness!

Total Time: About 20 minutes
Difficulty: This one is moderately difficult, depending on the age of your kiddo

Materials You Need:
1 tsp. Borax
Water
4 oz. Glue
Food Coloring (if desired)

Directions:

• In one container mix borax with 1 cup water until dissolved. Set aside.
• In another bowl mix your glue with 1/2 cup water. Add food coloring if you want colorful GAK.
• Pour borax mixture into glue mixture and stir. Really get in there with your hands and knead it.
• Drain off excess liquid and enjoy playing with your GAK!
• Store in a sealed baggie and it will last longer than you probably want it to :)

Print These Instructions

So what's the science behind this? It's pretty amazing, as always. When you mix the borax and glue together you are making a polymer. You can think of a polymer like a chain or a ladder. It's lots of little chemical pieces (called monomers) that hook together to make a long, strong strand. Many synthetic materials are polymers such as plastic, nylon, and styrofoam. Polymers exist in nature, too, in the forms of DNA and proteins.

Do you remember playing with GAK as a kid? You will find that this recipe yields a product that is very close to the real thing you pay big bucks for. The more you knead it, the harder it gets. If you let it rest for a minute it oozes back into a more liquid state. Your kids will think you are super mom (or dad) for making slimy GAK for them and for letting them make all kinds of inappropriate noises with it. This is a wonderful idea for sensory play for kids of all ages.

"Ooh, what is this crazy stuff? It's wet and slimy so I'm just going to poke it."

Thanks for the recipe, Our Best Bites!

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Meteorite!

One of my favorite activities this week was organized and carried out by my four-year-old. Isn't that how it often goes? We read in First Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life how a small-town-sized-meteorite smashed into the earth, which led to the dinosaurs dying out. Fascinated by this, Tommy got out his plastic dinosaurs (I think I bought them at the dollar store at some point), set them up in small groups, and then threw large bouncy balls at them (these were his meteorites). We had a blast.

We went through the book and matched his toy dinosaurs with the pictured dinosaurs so we knew what their names were. It was really fun to hear him playing: "Alright, Hadrosaur, let's go find Pterosaur and run from the T-Rex."

What fun things have you done for Dinosaur Week?

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