Mystical Magical Slime. Hours of fun for kids of all ages.

Please allow a departure from the normal for a moment. It isn’t that I’m lacking a recipe to share with you. It’s just that the recipe isn’t one to eat. The blog is titled, “Foodie With Family”, right? Well, today’s post is for the kids (and the kids at heart.)  Those of you who have school aged kids might be looking at a couple days or a week’s worth of break from school. And since you’re with me on the departure from the norm, how about sticking with me for an aside from the departure. When did this happen? I don’t remember getting a week off for Presidents’ Day. And since I sound like an old codger already, I might as well drive the nail into the coffin by saying that in my day it wasn’t even called Presidents’ Day. We had an individual birthday celebration for Washington and Lincoln and I’m pretty sure we got those corresponding days off. See that? I’m even too old and too codgery to remember whether I got those days off. It’s all downhill from here.

But back to the point. What was that dratted point? Oh yes. It was that many of you may find yourself with a kid (or a bunch of them) who need some activities to keep those brains and hands from plotting nefarious time-off deeds involving dogs, dutch ovens filled with gravel and mud of questionable origins, your good whisk and indelible marker in the newly repainted den. Trust me when I say it behooves you to spend the small amount of time to keep them occupied or you may find yourself with a ‘magic eraser’ trying desperately to remove Sharpie and muddy paw prints  from the recently-but-no-longer bright white closet door in the aforementioned den while wondering just how they got your whisk to stand up straight in a pile of mud that looks remarkably like it came from the  floor of the chicken coop. Just saying…

What to do, what to do? You don’t want to run to the store with those honyaks. Dig into the laundry supplies for some borax and the craft bin for some glue and make yourself some Mystical Magical Slime. It has the tactile play that kids love so much but it cleans up really nicely. Well, except from nice tablecloths, but who has any of those if they have kids? I recommend using a not-well-loved vinyl or plastic tablecloth for playing with the gunk. When it comes time to clean up,  let it dry on surfaces where it’s not going to do harm and then sweep it up. Whip up a batch of this and do what you have to do. This will keep them occupied. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing alongside them. It’s Mystical and Magical like that…

Hey you folks who aren’t overrun by children! You’re not off the hook here. This stuff is just plain fun and it’s not like it requires a massive investment. Try making this. I’m willing to bet you’ll find it a stress reliever even if you do feel a little silly when you start making the stuff. Live a little. Reconnect with your inner child.

And you fellow homeschooling types out there? You can turn this into a science lesson. Check out this link for more information on the mystical magical properties of polymers…

Mystical Magical Slime

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces white school glue (Elmer’s, Ross, doesn’t matter, just use white school glue.)
• 1 teaspoon powdered borax
• 1/2 cup warm water
• food coloring, optional (We used beet powder for our gruesome slime, but standard food coloring would work fine!)

Helpful equipment:

• 8 ounce measuring cup
• stain-proof mixing bowl
• vinyl or plastic tablecloth
• mixing spoon that you don’t love enough to worry about
• zipper top bag

To make Mystical Magical Slime you begin by changing into clothes to which you and the children are not emotionally attached. Now add the entire contents of the glue to a mixing bowl. Add warm water to the glue bottle, screw the lid back on tightly and shake. Empty the water/glue mixture to the glue in the bowl and mix well with a spoon. If you’d like to make colored slime, just add a couple drops of food coloring here. Again, mix well.

Add 1/2 cup warm water to your measuring cup and stir in 1 teaspoon of borax powder. Stir with a fork, but don’t worry if some of the powder doesn’t dissolve. It’s not a biggie. You have now created the Mystical Magical Slime Activator. Or you can call it Mystical Magical Potion, or Mystical Magical Power Liquid or whatever you want that makes your kids’ eyes get bigger and makes them stare at you in anticipation. Your call. “Mystical, Magical Slime Activator Potion” is what gets them all quivery with excitement over here.

Now, while stirring the glue and water mixture, slowly add about 2 Tablespoons of the “Mystical, Magical Slime Activator Potion”. You’ll immediately feel resistence against the spoon while the strands of slime form in the bowl. You may want to use your hand for the remaining mixing! If the slime is to your liking, you can stop here, but if you want slime that is a little more like silly putty, you can keep adding the activator little by little, mixing well between each addition until it reaches the desired consistency. Now PLAY! Have fun! Get messy!

When you’re done, store the Mystical Magical Slime in a mystical magical zipper top bag.

We had a house full of family on New Year’s Day. My sister, Jessamine, and her husband, Jeremy, wisely brought the ingredients for this project as a gift for Ty’s birthday knowing that he had never made it before. Coincidentally, friends of ours had created and given Ty a kit to make this as well. As you can see from the pictures below, the whole crew -ages 3 through 42 and everywhere in between loved it.