So you’ve bought or made slime and you’ve done loads of fun things with it including poking it, stretching it and squeezing it. Now, you’re looking for other ideas of how to play with slime. Hence why you’re here!
Just in case you haven’t yet got your slime, check out this 2 ingredient slime recipe that’s so easy, it’s hard to get it wrong! Trust me, I spent ages trying to find a recipe for making slime using liquid starch and other ingredients and none worked anywhere near as good as this.
If you’re looking for fun and educational activities with slime, in this post, I’ll give you 30. These slime activities are great for toddlers, preschoolers and older kids. Read on, so you’re no longer wondering what to do with slime!
Young children should always be supervised when taking part in these activities.
Some key benefits of playing with slime:
- It stimulates our senses, helping us to relax and reduce anxiety
- Playing with slime is a fun activity loved by children and adults
- It helps to develop fine motor skills
- It develops our creativity as we explore different ways to play with it
Safe slime play for babies and toddlers
For babies and toddlers that are of the age where they still put things in their mouth, you will want baby safe slime that’s edible.
Before we get into these 30 ideas of how to play with slime, I want to mention a simple way in which babies can enjoy slime. Ever heard of a sensory bottle (otherwise known as a discovery bottle)? These are sealed bottles that contain different types of colours and materials that float (one ingredient can be slime). They are visually appealing to young children and by shaking them, you create a sensory activity without any risk to your baby of them digesting or choking on the materials inside.
Now let’s get onto these 30 ways young children can play and have fun with slime
1. Make a treasure hunt game by hiding little toys in the slime and let your child find them.
2. Make a necklace or bracelet and add some lovely slime accessories as jewels.
3. Try a mixing colours activity with a variety of coloured slime to teach your child how mixing primary colours can make secondary colours.
4. Give your slime a pretty swirl look (like the image below) by stretching it out and folding it several times. This makes it look a bit like a dessert.
5. Try a slime magnetic fishing game. All you need to do is add a gooey slime called slime baff to a bowl of water (or in the bathtub) and use magnetic fishing toys to catch fish in the slime. Don’t make your slime too thick or else you won’t be able to get the fish out.
6. Make your own slime sensory bottle using slime baff. Sensory bottles are visually appealing to young children and looking at them can have a calming effect.
7. Show your child how their name is spelt with the slime.
8. Make fluffy slime by folding and kneading a little shaving foam into it. Make sure not to add too much shaving foam as this will take away the stretchiness of your slime – just add a little at a time to be on the safe side.
9. Make a face and help your little one to learn parts of the face by pointing and telling them “these are the eyes” and “that’s the nose”.
10. Make different facial expressions with your slime to help your child learn emotions.
11. Make your slime a dessert by swirling it then putting it into a slime container. You can also add sprinkles to make it look even more real.
12. Place a piece of metal (such as a small key) inside the slime and use a magnet to pull it out. This is a fun and simple activity to teach toddlers and preschoolers about how magnets work. You can even try this using different metal objects to see which ones work and which don’t.
13. Make a slime bath using this slime baff powder. Your child can then take a bath in the slime – this is recommended for 3 years and upwards.
14. Make slime bubbles by blowing in your slime through a straw. Here is how it’s done.
15. Make a slime sensory bin for a messy play activity.
16. Create scented slime by adding fragrance oils to give it an added sensory experience.
17. Practice cutting the slime with toy plastic scissors from a playdough tools kit. This will help your child’s fine motor skills.
18. Make a car track with the slime and your child can run their car around the track.
19. Imagine your slime is food and your child can pretend to feed their dolls and animals using plastic toy cutlery.
20. Make numbers, letters and shapes. You could use play dough cutters for this or just mold the slime into shape with your fingers.
21. Stick toy figures (such as dinosaurs and cars) in the slime pretending they are stuck in the mud. Then you can play a rescue game and have your other figures come to save them.
22. Make patterns (such as small shapes) with the slime and have your child guess what comes next in the pattern.
23. Use household items to explore the different prints you can make in your slime. You could use a fork, a spiky ball or even your hand.
24. Fill up the back of a toy dump trailer with your slime and let your child dump it, pretending they are working on a construction site.
25. Practice making big slime bubbles. This might take a few attempts before you nail it.
26. Make a man out of your slime and use it as a learning body parts activity for toddlers and preschoolers. To do this you will simply point to different parts of the body and name them or ask your child “can you show me where his feet are”, for example.
27. Mark your hand and foot print in the slime. This is a good activity for teaching toddlers about size as you can compare your hand and foot size with theirs.
28. Your child can work on their fine motor skills and practice using cutlery by cutting the slime with a plastic toy knife from a playdough tools kit.
29. Use your slime as a simple nature activity by making things you find out in nature such as the sun, a flower, a tree.
30. Make slime balls (like the image below) and encourage your child to count the balls as a simple counting activity.
Now you can have fun with this list of 30 things to do with slime
Try these 30 fun and educational slime activities at home. Now you and your child will always know exactly how to play with slime and never get bored of it. Also, why not share this list of fun slime activities with other’s who also enjoy playing with slime.
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