Slime Science

Since I'm not in a school this year I have still been involved with kids even in my community. Recently I held a slime science event at a local community center for parents to drop off kids and shop/wrap presents if need be. We had four different slime stations and lots of learning and fun took place.

I loved that kids wanted to come outside of school and I tried to provide some great extensions about science from what they are learning. The stations we had were:

Magnetic Slime
Color Changing Slime
Glow in the Dark Slime
DIY Slime

I wanted this to extend education in addition to the clear fun of "slime" on its own. I made a specific booklet that contains all the recipes that we used and activities that go along with each type.

For our specific event, we had kids rotate around in groups and really didn't get to do too much of the book work, but the table leaders went into specific details and experimented after making it.

The way our event worked was 2 rotations of slime, then we met, talked and had snack, then finished up our last 2 rotations. At the end, we met back up and looked at our books to find something new we learned or write it down and that is what they shared before they left.

Overall, this would make a great family night for your school. Buying the supplies in bulk really cuts the cost of the event. We used 2oz cups since they got to take home 4 different types and that worked out great. The booklet even comes with a whole page of parent extensions!

My four favorite parts:

1. My Pearly Snow Slime:
Guys I seriously could not stop playing with my own slime I made. At the DIY station I used White Pearl Paint combined with sequins to make a winter-y pearl paint. I loved the shimmer and shine but it wasn't too much and the consistency came out just right. We learned no matter how many times we made it that consistency varied each time it seemed like - too loose, too tight or just right. It took lots of trial and error - we used pipettes to drop in the Borax solution to make sure we weren't adding too much. Watering down the glue helps as well.

2. Magnet Fights
Because we used Iron Filings and Iron Oxide in different batches we could test the strength of each. Below is a video of the two different types and how they interacted with Neodymium Magnets .

*yes those magnets have to be used - I noted that in parent materials*

Pulling back the slime reveals the magnetic field!🤓🤓🤓

Also what's really cool is that those two slimes become magnetic to each other after polarized with the magnet. If they are stored near each other the iron fillings will all gravitate towards the iron oxide slime - PRETTY COOL!

👩🏼‍🔬iron fillings vs. iron oxide powder👨🏽‍🔬 this slime event is going to be AWESOME! #ilovescience #iteachscience #slime #magneticslime #magnets #funsaturday #adultatplay

A post shared by Amber Nicole (@sssteaching) on Nov 18, 2017 at 7:08am PST

3. Exact Temperature Changes

The color changing slime was so fun to make and experiment with! Thermochromic pigment makes this slime so special. The pigment changes color with different temperatures! I could not find one to purchase that changes at a lower temp. Ours changes at 88 degrees Fahrenheit which actually worked out well.

We could dip it in hot tap water, warm with our breath, stretch out warm slime and watch it cool, and get metal utensils warm to make patterns!

The cool science part was letting students use a thermometer to experiment with exactly what temperature changed the slime. Lots of trial and error to figure it out. The powder can be a little pricey but woukd easily make a big batch for one class!!

4. “Literal” lightbulb moments

The glow slime was really eye opening for some of the kids that have never seen black lights or used them before. It was so cool to see their reactions to he parts. Clear Glue works better than white glue for glow slime!

We used Highlighter ink in our water since it glows in black lights, we used glow paint and black light paint to make sure our slime glowed in dark and under black light really well. I made sure kids got to see each part of that process as well!

If you are interested in the workbook that goes with the materials to use in school or for parents you can find more information by clicking here or any of the pictures below. It also comes with an editable invite and some promo resources!