A few years ago, I shared our recipe for homemade Gak.
Since then, we’ve made countless batched of Gak for ourselves and for gifts, and the process of making it is almost as much fun for the kids as actually playing with the finished product.
Recently, though, Nora has been obsessed with slime (a.k.a. a grosser, messier version of Gak).
She made some at school this past spring and has been begging to make more at home — however, it’s SO messy, slimy, sticky, etc. that I really didn’t want to make 3 batches of it (and then deal with the mess every time they played with it).
Fortunately, I found a recipe for Fluffy Slime that was fairly quick and simple to make, creates virtually no mess when the kids play with it, and is just “slimy” enough to appease Nora’s desire for slime at home!
If you’re looking for a fun summer craft project, a cute homemade gift idea, or a new “toy” to entertain your kiddos for a while, this slime should fit the bill! Thankfully, it’s super easy to make!
Recipe for Fluffy Slime
This recipe makes 1 batch (we make 3 batches at a time – 1 for each child)
INGREDIENTS:
- one 4oz. bottle Elmer’s School glue – roughly 1/2 cup (I’ve tried other brands and Elmer’s is the ONLY brand that works)
- several drops of food coloring (optional)
- 4 c. shaving cream
- 1 T. saline solution
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- a few drops of baby oil
DIRECTIONS:
- Squeeze glue into large container or mixing bowl
- Add food coloring if desired; mix well.
- Spray in roughly 4 c. shaving cream; mix well (add more food coloring for a darker color if desired)
- Add saline solution and baking soda and stir well (this is when the mixture turns into slime)
- Dump mixture onto table and add several drops of baby oil to prevent it from being so sticky
- Knead the slime like bread dough, adding more baby oil as necessary, until desired consistency is reached
- Store in an air-tight container
The ONLY messy part is when you need initially dump the slime onto the table (before you add the baby oil). The slime is VERY sticky at that point, but in my experience, everything wipes up VERY easily.
My kids absolutely LOVE playing with slime — and for the record, they do play with it inside too, we just happened to take pictures on a day they were playing with it outside.
I’m certain we’ll be making a few more batches of fluffy slime this summer (especially since glue will be crazy cheap in the upcoming back-to-school sales!)
NOTE: I want to reiterate that Elmer’s School Glue is the ONLY type of glue you’ll want to use. I’ve tried this recipe with other types of glue, just to see what would happen, and it doesn’t work.
I have no idea what makes Elmer’s School Glue better, but it’s the only one that works for our Gak recipe and so far, it’s the only one that works for this slime recipe as well!
Have you ever made fluffy slime?
Do you have any other similar recipes you love?
lyss says
Hmmm…interesting you said other glue brands didn’t work. We tried to make slime last week with these same ingredients(different proportions, though) and it did not work. It ended up dry and breaking instead of stretching. Is that your experience with cheap glue?
We tried another recipe that just used glue with a bit of baking soda and saline solution. It actually worked, but was no longer stretchy by the next day even though we put it in a container.
Will have to try again with Elmer’s. But I will stick with no shaving cream. The smell gave me a headache the rest of the day!
Andrea says
yeah, definitely try Elmers! And yes, the shaving cream smell was giving me a headache too. Thankfully we did it outside this time!
Dawn Kaestner says
I love Simon’s nail polish! Ahhh, to be the little brother of a girl:)
Andrea says
yes, the neighbor girls (along with Nora) painted both boy’s nails a couple weeks ago! They thought it was so cool!
Cyndi says
Do you use the whole can of shaving cream, or measure it out? Looks fun, can’t wait to try it out with the kids. Have everything but the shaving cream. 🙂
Andrea says
no, definitley not a whole can! I did measure it out the first time, but now I just spray what I think looks right. I’ve made several batches already and am still on my first can of shaving cream!
JJ says
OooOoo. We will have to try this!! We use equal parts liquid starch(Sta-flo) and Elmer’s. Put the starch in the bowl, then the food coloring(5 drops worked for us). Mix with a spoon. There will be excess liquid starch, but it makes the perfect slime. Pick it up and knead it. Put it on a non-stick surface for 5 min. So this isn’t the best for the kids to make it they don’t like to get their hands wet and wash after. But if you make it, it’s very durable and not sticky. They can use cookie cutters with them and children’s scissors. I like how you used disposable food containers–smart!!! I also love the app version of your blog!!!
Andrea says
sounds like fun!
Candis Gannes says
So funny you posted this yesterday I looked up your recipe for gak and a few others and we made five – yes five batches! Thanks for sharing this new recipe 🙂
Andrea says
WOW — that’s a lot of Gak!
Kari says
We love the fluffy slime at our house too! We’ve never added baking soda or baby oil. I’m not sure what the baking soda’s role is, but we may add in some baby oil next time. Thanks for the idea!
Andrea says
the baby oil REALLY helps remove the stickiness!