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 purchase The Slime Book on Amazon, Book Depository, or at your local bookstore!
For each colour of the rainbow slime I mixed:
- 1 cup clear glue
- 1/2 cup liquid starch
- 2 drops food colouring
- generous sprinkle of glitter
- splash of water (I rinsed the bowl between each slime and just didn’t dry out the bowl which was enough)
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. Fun at Home With Kids has a great troubleshooting guide if yours isn’t looking right.
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!
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.
Ana says
February 20, 2015 at 6:32 amI had no idea you could do this! It looks beautiful!
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:16 amThank you, Ana 🙂
Jennie @ Little Girl Designs says
February 20, 2015 at 9:17 amWhat a great idea! I’ll have to keep this in mind to do with my daughter. 🙂
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:16 amThank you, Jennie!
Erlene says
February 20, 2015 at 1:17 pmWhat a fun play craft for kids. Would love if you shared this on the Spring Craft Blog Hop. Pinning.
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:16 amThanks, Erlene!
Laura Vivoni says
February 20, 2015 at 3:17 pmI 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.
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:15 amANY SLIME is awesome!
Hollie Ramsey says
February 20, 2015 at 3:57 pmWoah cool! I’ve never seen anything like this!
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:15 amThanks, Hollie!
LAUREN says
February 20, 2015 at 4:03 pmOkay. 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!
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:14 amI guarantee you will definitely have some fun with this 😉
Theresa says
February 20, 2015 at 5:05 pmThat’s gorgeous! Pinned.
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:11 amThank you, Theresa!
Tara says
February 20, 2015 at 6:18 pmThis looks like a lot of fun. My tween loves to make slime! I know she’ll love this one.
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:11 amOh I hope she does love it!
Amanda says
February 20, 2015 at 10:23 pmThis is such an incredibly fun sensory activity! Can’t wait to try it as part of our Spring fun. Pinning!
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 9:10 amOh I hope they love it!
MT says
February 26, 2015 at 6:42 pmWhat is liquid starch? Is this just a mixture of cornstarch and water?
Thanks!
Jennifer Tammy says
June 13, 2015 at 2:24 amIt’s a laundry liquid, but you can use Borax (another laundry freshener) if Liquid Starch isn’t available where you are 🙂
Jessica says
December 30, 2015 at 3:56 pmWhen using borax powder how much powder in the half cup of water?
Jennifer Tammy says
December 31, 2015 at 9:38 pmI 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.
Mary-Lane says
April 9, 2016 at 2:15 amLOOOOVVVEEE!!!!!
ratenkredit rechner geld verdienen says
January 19, 2017 at 3:20 pmYup, that’ll do it. You have my appreciation.
Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop says
February 8, 2019 at 3:18 pmHmm 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.
Jennifer Tammy says
February 24, 2019 at 12:13 pmHonestly, 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.