I can’t believe Halloween is nearly here… Didn’t we just start the school year?! Miss G and I haven’t talked about brining something to share with her classmates this year {yet at least – I’m guessing this little tradition just dies off as the kids get older…?}, but we made these witch’s brew slime favours last year and they were such a huge hit!
Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love putting together fun gifts for kids. It’s my jam. There was a period in time when Miss G was a preschooler where I’m pretty sure every one of her friends got a play dough kit of some sort when their birthday rolled around, but we’ve also done LEGO kits, writing kits, art kits, car kits, baking kits, sensory play kits, craft kits, science kits, peg doll family kits, travel activity kits – wheeew. The list could go on. The kit-style kid gift is obviously my go-to. It requires no actual making of things… Simply collect items, pop them into a container of some sort, make the kit look somewhat pretty / organized, and you’re good to go. Truthfully, when we make kits as gifts, we don’t even bother wrapping them. We just add a tag with some baker’s twine and call it good.
This DIY slime kit is one of our more recent diy gifts put together for my sweet, slime-loving niece Kinslee for Christmas last year. Well, apparently it was well liked, because guess what we’re putting together for her for her upcoming birthday…. Yup – another DIY slime kit! {G’s also got one on her birthday wish list, so maybe I should just shop for two while I’m at it?}
Here’s a peek at our collection of kit items once we had done our shopping…
The first step in the collection process? Picking out a slime recipe book to include in the kit. There were a surprising number of options at our local bookstore, and while they all looked pretty good, I ended up picking The Slime Book over the others simply because I liked the fact that it didn’t advertise its recipes as ‘borax free’ like the others did. {Silly, I know… I don’t know why it bothers me, but slime recipes that are made using laundry starch, detergent, contact lens solution, etc. all work because those products contain some form of borax. Therefore, not borax free. Hmmm…}
I also really liked how it included this little shopping list in the front… Made the job of collecting things super easy!
We were able to find everything else between our local dollar store and the big box grocery store we often shop at, which I thought was pretty good. Here’s exactly what we included in the kit…
– 2 bottles of this clear glue {though this clear glue is a much better deal and what I was looking for in the first place}
– Bausch + Lomb re-nu fresh contact lens solution
– a large bottle of Elmer’s white glue
– a box of baking soda
– a can of shaving foam
– a container of cornstarch
– a couple of bottles of glitter {which is terrible for the environment, I know… we’ve stopped buying it for use at home, but I’d love to find a more earth-friendly version for situations like these… any suggestions?
– a package of neon liquid food colouring
– a package of regular liquid food colouring
– a set of silicone spatulas
– a set of silicone measuring spoons
We also included loads of fun add-ins, some of which were from the list at the front of the book and some of which were inspired by flipping through the slime recipes themselves:
Of course you could really add any fun little bits and bobs you find to your kit!
We also picked up some little containers to put all of the little bits in:
– taller glass craft bottles {these ones are similar but have cork tops}
– interlocking craft containers
The containers aren’t necessary, but I do think it makes it easier for slime kit recipient to manage all of the loose parts and it certainly makes the finished kit look more put together.
With everything ready to go, we placed everything neatly in a white bin we’d picked out…
And that was it.
To finish it off, we slid the book into the back and attached a big old-school mail tag that said ‘Kinslee’s SLIME KIT’ onto one of the bin’s handles, and our DIY slime kit gift was done!
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Oh, how we love slime. Grae and I started making it when she was just over two years old and one of our favourite things has always been to create slime strings using slotted spoons, sand sifters, and colanders {check out Baby G’s slime strings during her first ever slime play session!} It’s just so neat to watch the slime slowly sink down through the holes and emerge on the other side as perfect, thin cords.
Well today we took our slime strings to a whole new level by pairing our slime with a cooling rack and my gosh – was it ever cool. Miss G was sitting up at the island playing with some of our freshly made Valentine’s fluffy slime and Sam and I had made a batch of banana muffins earlier in the day, so the cooling rack {CAN} was just sitting there on the counter, and that’s when I remembered previously seeing this slime paired with a wire kitchen shelf for cutting practice.
Besides our fluffy slime and cooling rack {CAN} I grabbed on of our favourite play trays (we have a stack of these and use them for all kinds of kids’ projects) and a couple of big mason jars.
Then Miss G propped the cooling rack up on top of the jars with the tray below, took a chunk of slime and stretched it out into a fairly thin layer, and placed in on top of the cooling rack.
It looked really neat right from the get-go, but check out this progression:
Isn’t that cool?!
And what’s even cooler? The little curls and twists and the slime strings form when the hit the tray.
Just check that out. Aren’t they neat? These were Miss G’s favourite part and she said they remind her of curly hair – hah!
If you’ve got some slime and a cooling rack on hand, I highly recommend you try this… My guess is that your kiddos will be adding slime to the top of the rack again and again {just like mine} because it’s SO neat!
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This week Miss G and I have been enjoying an old favourite – some slimy frog pond sensory play! It’s funny how some things just never seem to get old… I love that about play – it sort of just evolves with the child as she grows and changes herself.
This year Miss G was really torn between making spider web slime and monster slime Halloween favours for her preschool co-op friends, so we decided to both! I think they both turned out absolutely adorably, but I especially love the simple little faces Grae created for these tubs of monster slime.
Slime… It’s probably Miss G’s favourite thing to give to her friends when Halloween rolls around each year. I don’t blame her – it’s stretchy and gooey and just plain fun. In the past we’ve done mini mason jars of pink sparkly slime for her ballerina friends and little Franken-SLIME containers for the kiddos that live in our building, and this year we’ve decided on two new types of slime giveaways for her buddies – the first of which is these spider web slime halloween favours.
As I was looking back at some of the fun things we did last October, I came across our Franken-SLIME Halloween favours. It’s been a long time since we whipped up a new batch of slime and we adore playing with it, so today was the day! While I did think about making green slime and adding some loose parts to stick with the Franken-slime theme, I changed my mind part way through and decided that we’d do several Halloween-ish colours of slime paired with googly eyes and foam parts in order to create slime monsters! …Oh my goodness, am I ever glad I did because Gracen just loved it.
Since we already had a bunch of fun things leftover from this week’s classes at Bright Minds, Grae and I decided to put them to good use by creating a senses-themed play date for she and her little buddy from downstairs. Here’s a peek at our very simple materials…
After yesterday, I decided that Miss G and I needed a very low-key day around the house today. We spent our morning making these cute little Franken-SLIME Halloween favours, and we both just love the way they turned out.
With Gracen being a sugar-free kid, I try my very best to make sure that she doesn’t miss out or feel resentful about the fact that we don’t let her eat junk. So in addition to making sure she has yummy {healthier} treats for the Halloween parties we’re attending, I wanted to make sure we had something fun and sugar-free that she could hand out to her friends and fellow trick-or-treaters. Now while we’ve done sparkly slime treats for Halloween and Valen-SLIME treats for Valentine’s Day, slime is so much fun that we couldn’t resist doing it again. Only this time we switched things up a little and turned the favours into little Frankestein heads!
With an expat moms breakfast 30 to 45 minutes away on tap for early this morning, I wanted to be as organized as possible last night. I prepped the usual – stainless bottles full of water and a couple of healthy snacks – then went in search of something that Gracen could quietly play with while I chatted with some of the other moms. Lately, her new unifix cubes have been keeping her incredibly engaged and happy during meals out and over at friends’ houses, but I also don’t want them to lose their magic. ☺ While digging through our craft shelf, I came across some slime I brought from back home. (Yes, I brought homemade slime from Canada… I don’t know what that says about me, and I’m not sure I want to know either…) I packed it in one of my favourite interlocking containers from Daiso and then went in search of a couple of things to pair it with. The result was this little sensory play to go kit, which Gracen just loved.
After putting together our ‘Will you be my Valen-slime?’ favours this afternoon, Miss G and I got out a few things and put together a really simple Valentine-themed slime sensory tray.
Slime is just one of those things that never gets old. Miss G’s spent quite a lot of time playing with it in the past, but was every bit as thrilled to play with it again today.
Her favourite part of today’s set up was definitely the heart-shaped cookie cutters. She’d imprint a bunch of hearts, watch them slowly melt away, and then loudly exclaim, “MAMA! THEY DISAPPEARED!!” before making more.
My favourite part was that because this batch turned out just a tad firmer than our last, there was zero mess. It didn’t stick to her hands, it didn’t goop up the bowls and kitchen utensils, and it didn’t cling to her clothes. (A seemingly messy activity sans the mess = win!)
We left this out for most of the afternoon and evening, and Miss G came back to it again and again before it finally had to be sealed up just before dinner. But before that happened, she wanted a guarantee that her tray and container of slime would be left out and ready for her to enjoy first thing the next morning.
Okay, so not the most traditional of Valentine’s Day treats, but when you ask a two year old what she wants to give her friends for Valentine’s, you have to be open to the suggestions. And those just happen to be heart wands and sparkly slime this time around.
Luckily, fun-to-play-with slime is a cinch to make and requires ingredients we always have around the house. Plus, we’re slime experts after whipping up 50+ slime treats this past Halloween.
Detailed instructions can be found here, but basically all you have to do is mix the glue, glitter, food colouring, and some of the water together…
And the other bit of water with the Borax separately.
Then pour the two mixtures together, knead it together a bit…
And watch oozy gooey slime form. It’s honestly so easy that Miss G can do almost everything (save the measuring) on her own.
For packaging, we like using these 125 ml mason jars because they’re the perfect size and can be reused for something else afterwards (plus they’re pretty cute!)
Filling the jars with was Miss G’s favourite part of the process this time around, especially when she discovered that she could create all kinds of silly noises by forcing the slime down into the jars.
Though she’d asked for red slime with red sparkles, this is what our finished product looks like {even after using a half a bottle of liquid food colouring}. Luckily the pink and red combo is perfect for the occasion and Miss G was pleased with how it turned out.
For the tops, we created simple paper circle inserts that include a little ‘Valen-slime’ saying and a sparkly red heart. Here are a few close ups…
‘Be mine, Valen-slime.’
‘Be my Valen-slime.’
‘Will you be my Valen-slime?’
Surely we’re the first ever people to give out slime on a holiday centred around love and friendship, but who wants to be run of the mill anyways?
Want to make your own? Download our printables here:
Printable Valentine’s Day Slime Favour Labels
Sparkly Slime
(This is essentially the exact same recipe we used last time, but in a bigger batch. This recipe yields 24 – 26 mason jars of slime – perfect for a class of kids – or in our case, 12 mason jars and a big batch to use for sensory play.)
After making each of her little dance class friends a mini mason jar filled with pink sparkly slime, plus giving out another 40 slime packets at Strong Start this morning, Gracen was excited to get her hands on a batch or two of her own. So today, between the Halloween festivities, we carved out some time in the afternoon to set up a very simple little slime station.
Here’s how we set up the station… Slime in three colours, a handful of small containers, a strainer spoon, a sand sifting shovel, plastic cutlery, some bowls all on a plastic tray.
Gracen quickly settled on the blanket next to her tray and began exploring. She wasn’t so sure about really diving in at first, but before too long she was picking up full batches of slime at a time and watching them slip and stretch out of her hands.
What I like so much about this sort of slime (besides how cool it is to play with), is that despite the fact that it looks like it can get pretty messy, it’s very easy to tidy. Because it acts more like a solid when removed from little people, dishes, and blankets, it just kind of clumps up and comes away clean. Plus, it doesn’t stain skin and it washes off of clothes and blankets without any effort. Messy play being easy to tidy? A definite win in my books.
♥
Bright and early this morning {while still in pajamas}, Gracen and I put together some little Halloween treats for her “yittle dance class fends”. While a little non-traditional, I wanted to make something Gracen-friendly (she hasn’t had refined sugar / junk yet) and call me a downer, but between sweets from family members, school, and trick-or-treating, I think most kids get more than enough junk on Halloween as it is. Our alternative? Mini mason jars filled with sparkly slime. ☺
First off, Miss G helped me collect a few ingredients from around the house… Warm water, Borax, food colouring, glitter, and white glue.
To get us started, she emptied a generous amount of white glue into a large mixing bowl…
Then added some warm water…
A single drop of gel food colouring (she chose pink which isn’t particularly Halloween-ish, but I figure it’s perfect for a group of teeny tiny ballerinas)…
And a liberal amount of glitter.
Then we stirred everything up really well until the mixture was smooth and all of the glue globs had disappeared.
After setting our glue / water mixture aside, we added some Borax to the remaining warm water…
And stirred it well.
Then it was time for the magic! While Gracen gently stirred the glue / water mixture, I slowly began pouring the water / Borax mixture in.
In just seconds, we could see the liquid starting to thicken up and come together in a large mass.
Once everything had been well mixed, I poured out what little excess water was left and Grae began kneading the slime. Before long, the slime was firmer, less sticky, and ready to be packaged.
But not before sneaking in a little play time first though. ☺
Afterwards, we separated our pink sparkly concoction into 12 mini mason jars, which we already had on hand from the individual mason jar cheesecakes we had at Gracen’s recent 2nd birthday party.
With our slime divided into containers, it was off to the computer next. Gracen chose some fluorescent pink paper and the pumpkin clipart, I chose the fonts, and together we came up with these super simple labels.
A little orange marker and a dash of sparkle, and here’s the finished product.
Sparkly Slime (adapted from this recipe)
Combine the first set of ingredients until the mixture is smooth and free of glue blobs.
In a separate measuring cup / bowl, combine the second set of ingredients until the Borax is dissolved into the water.
Slowly pour the Borax mixture into the glue mixture, stirring as you pour. When the slime comes together in a large mass, pour off the excess water and kneed the slime for a few minutes.
Package in pretty little mason jars and gift to your friends on Halloween.
* One thing to keep in mind is that while clear Elmer’s glue will work just fine for this recipe, the ‘environmentally friendly’ version will not. Trust me. We tried it. TWICE. *
* Also, if you’re wondering about the safety of Borax, this post is extremely helpful. *
♥
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