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:
- 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. 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!
Grab our free printable instructions on how to make rainbow slime:
Rainbow Slime: Teach Kids the Order of the Rainbow Using this Fun Sensory Play Activity. Squishy, Stretchy and Colorful Rainbow Slime As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.Rainbow Slime
Materials
Tools
Instructions
Recommended Products
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
I had no idea you could do this! It looks beautiful!
Jennifer Tammy says
Thank you, Ana 🙂
Jennie @ Little Girl Designs says
What a great idea! I’ll have to keep this in mind to do with my daughter. 🙂
Jennifer Tammy says
Thank you, Jennie!
Erlene says
What a fun play craft for kids. Would love if you shared this on the Spring Craft Blog Hop. Pinning.
Jennifer Tammy says
Thanks, Erlene!
Laura Vivoni says
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.
Jennifer Tammy says
ANY SLIME is awesome!
Hollie Ramsey says
Woah cool! I’ve never seen anything like this!
Jennifer Tammy says
Thanks, Hollie!
LAUREN says
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!
Jennifer Tammy says
I guarantee you will definitely have some fun with this 😉
Theresa says
That’s gorgeous! Pinned.
Jennifer Tammy says
Thank you, Theresa!
Tara says
This looks like a lot of fun. My tween loves to make slime! I know she’ll love this one.
Jennifer Tammy says
Oh I hope she does love it!
Amanda says
This is such an incredibly fun sensory activity! Can’t wait to try it as part of our Spring fun. Pinning!
Jennifer Tammy says
Oh I hope they love it!
MT says
What is liquid starch? Is this just a mixture of cornstarch and water?
Thanks!
Jennifer Tammy says
It’s a laundry liquid, but you can use Borax (another laundry freshener) if Liquid Starch isn’t available where you are 🙂
Jessica says
When using borax powder how much powder in the half cup of water?
Jennifer Tammy says
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.
Mary-Lane says
LOOOOVVVEEE!!!!!
ratenkredit rechner geld verdienen says
Yup, that’ll do it. You have my appreciation.
Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop says
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.
Jennifer Tammy says
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.