Rainbow Slime
These past two weeks, the kids and I have been working a lot with rainbows. We’ve been exploring their symbolic significance, their beauty, and their order, but we’re still working on getting the colour sequence correct so I thought something a bit more hands-on might help them remember and whipped up some rainbow slime.
I had four preschoolers that day, so I decided to make 1 cup of each colour of slime so that they could all have a few opportunities to roll their own rainbows.
Before we get to the recipe, I had to tell you that it’s finally here! I wrote The (Ultimate) Slime Book oozing with over 50 pages of stretchable, squishy sensory fun – including a year of seasonal slimes, edible slimes and unique ways to play with slime. Click here to get more details.
You can also purchase The Slime Book on Amazon.
For each colour of the rainbow slime I mixed:
- Clear Glue
- Liquid Starch
- Water
- Teal food coloring <– this set of food coloring has lasted me forever and I love that it creates highly saturated colors with just a drop
- Fine Glitter
Or, if you prefer saline solution slime:
- Clear Glue
- Baking soda
- Contact solution <– this is the brand we use, it must contain boric acid to work as a slime activator
- Water
Knead the slimes for at least a minute to check their consistency as it will change (just like homemade play dough does) with a bit of play.
If you’ve never played with slime before, don’t worry about a sticky disaster! If it’s made properly, it will be stretchy and gooey but not sticky.
Slime can require a bit of experimentation and patience, especially if you’re still new to it. If you run into any slime fails, check out this troubleshooting post to help fix your slime.
I ripped small amounts of slime in each colour for each of the kids and showed them all how to assemble their own rainbow — and how pretty and stretchy it would be!
They immediately set to work rolling out “snakes” of each colour and attaching the colours in order – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple.
I was honestly shocked at how well most of them remembered the order of the rainbow during this activity, especially considering the paintings made just the day before were a bit more creative in their colour orders! It just goes to show you the power of sensory play and how sensory stimulation can help with deep semantic learning.
After they had assembled their rainbows, they stretched, squished, poked, snapped, and flattened their rainbow slime. Eventually they all ended up with giant rainbow slime balls… which were pretty for about two minutes until they turned into a glittery, brown slime ball. Luckily, I had made enough slime that the children were able to make three more rainbows before we moved on, and we still have a bit of slime left over!
Grab our free printable instructions on how to make rainbow slime:
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Rainbow Slime
Rainbow Slime: Teach Kids the Order of the Rainbow Using this Fun Sensory Play Activity. Squishy, Stretchy and Colorful Rainbow Slime
Materials
- 1 cup clear glue
- 1/2 cup liquid starch
- 2 drops food colouring
- generous sprinkle of glitter
- splash of water
Tools
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
Instructions
- Mix the glue, 3 T of liquid starch, and water together to start.
- Mix and knead, checking consistency and balancing with more glue or more liquid starch as you go. Asia's guide above is irreplaceable if you are new to making slime.
- After you have a cohesive slime, add any optional colouring, glitter, sequins, and scent.
Recommended Products
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Fine Slime Glitter, Set of 32 Colors, LEOBRO Multi Purpose Glitter Powder for Arts, Crafts, Epoxy Tumblers, Decoration Weddings Cards Flowers, Scrapbooking, Body, Face, Nail, Glitter Slime Making -
Purex Sta-Flo Concentrated Liquid Starch, 64 oz Bottle by Sta-Flo (1) (Original Version) (Original Version)
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ELMERS 2024691 Elmer's Liquid School Glue, Clear, Washable, 32 Ounces - Great for Making Slime
Left Brain Craft Brain has a cute glow-in-the-dark slime recipe which would be a fun twist on this activity if you could get the paint that she recommends in all 6 colours!
We loved playing with our rainbow slime, I hope your kids will, too!
For more fun slime recipes, check out our squishy (secret ingredient) slime or our frozen snow slime.
I had no idea you could do this! It looks beautiful!
Thank you, Ana 🙂
What a great idea! I’ll have to keep this in mind to do with my daughter. 🙂
Thank you, Jennie!
What a fun play craft for kids. Would love if you shared this on the Spring Craft Blog Hop. Pinning.
Thanks, Erlene!
I love this craft, I know my daughter would love to do it, and even if it’s just a one color slime, she loves purple.
Thanks for sharing this craft.
ANY SLIME is awesome!
Woah cool! I’ve never seen anything like this!
Thanks, Hollie!
Okay. THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER! I will have to do this with my tots. I might ending having as much fun as them. this is going on my to do list!
I guarantee you will definitely have some fun with this 😉
That’s gorgeous! Pinned.
Thank you, Theresa!
This looks like a lot of fun. My tween loves to make slime! I know she’ll love this one.
Oh I hope she does love it!
This is such an incredibly fun sensory activity! Can’t wait to try it as part of our Spring fun. Pinning!
Oh I hope they love it!
What is liquid starch? Is this just a mixture of cornstarch and water?
Thanks!
It’s a laundry liquid, but you can use Borax (another laundry freshener) if Liquid Starch isn’t available where you are 🙂
When using borax powder how much powder in the half cup of water?
I think about a teaspoon? There’s a lot of kneading involved with making slime, so you might add a bit more if the glue is still sticky after a good kneading of the ingredients.
LOOOOVVVEEE!!!!!
Yup, that’ll do it. You have my appreciation.
Hmm it looks like your blog ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to
everything. Do you have any tips for first-time blog writers?
I’d really appreciate it.
Honestly, I think just writing what you know and are passionate about – and if those things aren’t the same topic, write about what you are passionate about! Write every day, or as often as you can. Figure out your voice, your focus, and what will keep you passionate about writing your blog long-term. Everything else will work itself out.