How to Make Cornstarch Slime

On Sid the Science Kid, Emmy watched Sid make green slime, and so she wanted to try to make some at home!

Here’s how you make it:

In a medium sized bowl, put a cup of cornstarch. In a measuring cup, add a couple drops of green food coloring to one cup of water and stir. Add about 3/4 cup of water to the cornstarch and stir. Have your kids mix it up with their fingers! Depending on the consistency that you want, add more water or more cornstarch. Pour onto a cookie sheet with edges to contain the mess. You might be surprised how much YOU like playing with green slime! (I thought it was so cool to touch!)

If you get the slime to the right consistency, it acts like a solid when you are playing with it, and then melts to a liquid when you let it stand. Emmy and I played with adding water and adding cornstarch to see what would happen. In this video of Emmy, the slime is a little more liquid-y.

(P.S. If you are reading this post in your email, please click over to Lemon Drop Pie to watch the video of Emmy playing with slime!)

Since the slime is just cornstarch and water, clean up is so easy–trust me! As a preschool teacher who has had to clean up play dough tables every day before snack time, I can tell you that play dough is much harder to clean up. Plus, cornstarch is much safer for preschoolers, unlike the recipe for slime that uses glue and Borax.

Have fun! (And make some even if you don’t have kids!)

post signature

Jack o’ Lantern Jars for Halloween

What else can you make with an orange plaid shirt found at Good Will?

Why, make a Jack o’ lantern jar, of course!

I used material from this plaid shirt for my scarecrow costume, and since the shirt had a lot more material left, wanted to try to make something else Halloween-y with it.

Way back in September, Judy from What I Live For made some adorable Jack o’ lantern jars with orange fabric, and I really wanted to make some! So I saved some jars, washed them out, and there they sat, on my kitchen counter, for days. I didn’t have orange fabric or tissue paper.

I finally got tired of the jars sitting on my counter, so I threw them in the recycling bin, thinking I was never going to make the Jack o’ lanterns anyway. But then a couple of days later, I had a change of heart and dug them out again. Thank goodness I changed my mind before the jars made it to the curb!

Emmy and I sat down one afternoon last week, and made three different jars. Emmy used paint, and made a ghostly jar. From orange tissue paper that was in a gift I received, I made the middle Jack o’ lantern, and the plaid shirt was turned into the lantern on the right.

What’s her mommy thinking, letting her paint without a smock?

Emmy loves to paint, and she took her time making her ghostly jar with some acrylic paint we bought to decorate pumpkins with. (You’ll see pictures of those pumpkins in a later post!)

I used Mod Podge to glue the fabric onto my jars, and I found some glittery black paper in my scrapbooking supplies for the eyes, nose and mouth. I put a tea light at the bottom of the jars and Voila!

A ghosty jar and two Jack o’ lantern jars! The plaid fabric is a touch too thick for this project; I think the orange tissue paper I used in the middle jar looks much nicer.

There are two more empty jars waiting for Lily to make her Jack o’ lantern jar. They are going to look so cute, lit up on Halloween night!

How are you getting ready for Halloween?

post signature