3 Easy Slime Recipes

Slime is a classic science project. There are lots of different ways to make it, so you’re sure to have ingredients to make it. Here’s a collection of easy slime recipes to try:

Classic White Glue and Borax Slime Recipe

Let’s start with the go-to slime recipe, made using white school glue and borax.

• borax powder (e.g., 20 Mule Team borax sold as a laundry booster)
• water
• 4 ounce (120 ml) non-toxic white glue (e.g., Elmer’s school glue)
• food coloring (optional)

1. In one container, stir together 4 ounces (1/2 cup or 120 ml) glue and 1/2 cup water.
2. Add a few drops of food coloring, if you want colored slime. If you don’t add coloring, your slime will be opaque white.
3. In a separate container, mix together 1 teaspoon (5 ml) borax powder and 1 cup (240 ml) water.
4. It’s easy to make the slime. Simply mix the glue solution and the borax solution together!
5. Work the slime with your hands. You can discard any leftover water.

Goo or Oobleck Slime Recipe

Goo or oobleck is a non-sticky opaque slime that is an example of a non-Newtonian fluid. This means it acts differently according to external conditions. This slime flows like a liquid, but if you squeeze it hard or punch it, it feels solid. All versions of this slime are non-toxic and safe even for very young children. There are actually a few different ways to make goo or oobleck. The simplest is to mix together corn starch and water or corn starch and vegetable oil. If you have the materials, using liquid starch instead of powdered corn starch and white glue instead of water or oil makes a nice slime:

• 1/2 cup white glue
• 1 cup liquid starch
• food coloring (optional)

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl or squish them together in a plastic bag.

Glow in the Dark Slime Recipes

You can turn any slime into glow in the dark slime by adding a phosphorescent powder or by replacing glue in a recipe with glow in the dark glue. Make slime that glows under a black light by adding highlighter ink instead of food coloring.

Note: Most phosphorescent powders are destroyed by contact with water! Your best bet is to use a powder made for mixing into acrylic (water-based) paint or a pre-mixed liquid solution, like a paint or a glue.

Here’s the recipe for the slime I made for this photo:

• borax powder
• Elmer’s™ non-toxic blue glue gel (You could use any transparent glue. Avoid white glue because it blocks the “glow.”)
• Glow-Away™ washable paint (I got this at Michael’s craft store, but any glow-in-the-dark washable paint will work.)
• water

1. Mix together 1/3 cup glue and 1 cup water.
2. Stir or whisk in paint to achieve the desired glow. I used half a tube of glow paint. I had charged the paint under a black light (could use bright sunlight), so I would know how bright it would be in the slime.
3. In a second bowl, stir borax into half a cup of hot water until it stops dissolving. This gives you a saturated solution without having to measure the borax. If you feel like measuring, add 1-2 teaspoons of borax.
4. To make the slime, mix together 1/3 cup of the borax solution with 1 cup of the glue/glow mixture.
5. Charge the slime by exposing it to bright light for a few minutes or a black light for a few seconds. It will now glow in the dark!

Slime Storage and Clean-Up

• Store any type of slime in a sealed container when you’re not using it.
• You can keep mold and other nastiness away from the slime by refrigerating it between uses.
• Clean up slime messes using warm, soapy water.
• If you used food coloring, remember it may stain fabric and your hands.

Need more slime recipes? Try easy soap slime or peppermint slime!