slime

This easy butterfly slime is just a clear slime recipe using contact lens solution as the base with some added pizzazz. It is a nice sensory play recipe for Spring or for when you wish Spring would come soon. As I type this, it is -40° outside when I live up in Canada. Yes, that’s -40° in both Fahrenheit and Celsius! Now this temperature is cold even for us seasoned Canadians so this is exactly the kind of day that has me dreaming of Spring. I’ve been thinking about flowers and butterflies and green grass as I stay bundled inside and look out at the snow.

You can use this slime just for play or in a unit on Spring or butterflies. If using it as part of a unit, you can also create a Butterfly Sensory Bin and Butterfly Sensory Bag.

Butterfly Slime Recipe:

Supplies needed:

• 1 cup Elmer’s Clear School glue
• 2-3 Tbsp. contact lens saline solution
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• unicorn glitter
• butterfly confetti
• optional: butterfly toys for extended play

Directions:

1. Pour the glue into a large mixing bowl and stir the baking soda into it.
2. Begin to add the contact lens solution a few drops at a time as you stir.
3. When you find that the mixture begins to pull away from the bowl, it’s time to begin kneading.
4. Add the glitter and confetti. Continue kneading.
5. If the slime is still too sticky to play with, add one or two more drops of contact solution and knead.

You can set out some butterfly toys and silk flowers alongside the slime to encourage imaginative play.

This slime provides visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory feedback. Kids who help with the kneading when making the recipe will get more proprioceptive input.

Check out these other Spring sensory activities for kids:

Butterfly Sensory BinButterfly Sensory Bag

Spring Sensory Bottle

I was attempting to create a Halloween slime, but I’m not very good at scary things, so in the end, I decided that a Monster Slime was about as scary as it was going to get. Apparently, it doesn’t look like a very scary monster at that because one of my daughters took to calling it the Mike Wazowski Slime!

So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present to you, Mike Wazowski Monster Slime!

How to Make Monster Slime:

Supplies needed:

• 5 oz. bottle Elmer’s clear school glue
• ½ cup water
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. contact solution
• lime green acrylic paint – you could use another colour if you prefer
• green fine glitter
• googly eyes

Wiggle Eyes Multi-PackElmer’s Clear School Glue, 5 oz.Equate Saline SolutionAcrylic Paint Lime Green

Directions:

1. Pour the entire 5 oz. bottle of clear glue in a bowl.
2. Add in ½ cup of water.
3. Add in ½ tsp. of baking soda and stir.
4. Squirt in some acrylic paint until you achieve the shade of your liking. Stir well.
5. Sprinkle in some green glitter and stir.
6. Add in lots of googly eyes. You can use a variety of sizes.
7. Mix in 1 Tbsp. of contact solution. The slime will instantly begin to form.
8. At this point, it will be sticky. Don’t worry. Just keep stirring the solution in the bowl until it starts to form.
9. Knead the slime until it is no longer sticky.
10. Store it in an airtight container when you’re not playing with it.

This monster slime is cute for using at Halloween parties or even giving as a party favour. You can change the colour by changing the colour of the paint used. Using coloured googly eyes will also change the look of it, so there are many possibilities.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

Mixing and kneading this slime while making the recipe provides proprioceptive sensory feedback.

The tactile, visual, and proprioceptive sensory systems are all engaged while playing with this Monster Slime. Pulling, pressing, stretching, squeezing, and shaping the slime also helps develop coordination and motor skills.

Check out some of these other Halloween slimes:

Halloween Striped Slime

Creepy Spider Web Slime

Halloween Sensory Game

There are so many types of slime. Every time I think we’ve tried them all, we discover another type to make! This textured butter slime was a cool experiment that turned out so well. This sensory play activity engages the tactile, visual, and proprioception sensory systems.

How to make butter slime

Well, first of all, I guess we should start with “what is butter slime?” Contrary to what it sounds like, butter slime doesn’t actually use butter as an ingredient. It gets its name from the buttery texture. Most butter slimes have a non-toxic clay such as Model Magic clay in the recipe. This type of slime moulds well, but it’s not very stretchy.

How to make butter slime without clay

While most butter slime recipes, call for using clay, you can make it without clay. In fact, in our recipe, we didn’t use clay at all. We instead used playdough that had seen better days. If you’re a family or school that uses playdough regularly, chances are, you’ve got some that’s seen better days and needs to be thrown out. The great thing about this recipe is that instead of throwing that dried out playdough out, you can repurpose it into slime!

You can also make butter slime without clay by mixing cornstarch and shampoo. Or it can be made by adding about 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch into a typical liquid starch slime recipe.

Textured Butter Slime Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Tbsp. dish soap
• foam beads
• 3 oz. dried out playdough (store bought or homemade)
• optional: cornstarch

Directions:

1. Pour about 2 Tablespoons of dish soap into a 3 oz. container of old playdough. If you’ve thrown out the container or are using homemade playdough, do this in a bowl.
2. Begin mixing. The texture will determine your next step.
3. If the dough is getting softer and is not at all sticky, you can add an additional Tablespoon of dish soap and continue mixing. If the dough takes on a sticky texture, a sprinkling of cornstarch can be added.
4. Next, add as many foam beads as you like. This will be what adds the texture.
5. Mix the beads and the dough together well.

Invite your children to play, stretch and mold the textured doh. The dough can now be stretched, moulded, and played with. It is soft and can also be cut with a craft stick or plastic knife, just like butter.

Play-Doh 24-Pack Case of Colors, 3 oz. CansStyrofoam Balls for SlimeDishwashing Liquid

Adding the foam beads offers a great twist on the texture. This provides additional tactile sensory feedback.

Are you looking for more easy sensory play recipes? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Other popular slime recipes:

Unicorn Fluffy Slime

Minnie Mouse Slime

Glow in the Dark Slime

Frozen Inspired Elsa Slime

This Frozen Inspired Elsa Slime is an interesting slime because of the textures and colours. With the addition of all the add-ins, it becomes a crunchy slime. This is particularly good for kids who are sensory seekers. 

When you think about the movie Frozen, a certain song may come to mind. If you want to give the full Elsa effect, you can sing the song while you make this slime.

Frozen Inspired Elsa Slime Recipe:

Supplies:

• 5 oz. of Elmers school clear glue
• 1/2 cup water
• blue colorant (you can also use food colouring, paint or pigment)
• blue glitter
• blue sequins
• faux snow (confetti)
• beads
• ‘diamond’ beads
• snowflake charms 
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. contact solution

Directions:

1. In a bowl, pour 5 oz. clear glue.
2. Add 1/2 cup water.  Mix until the glue has broken up and is incorporated into the water.
3. Add a few drops of blue colorant, mixing until you get the perfect blue.
4. Sprinkle in your glitter. Stir.
5. Add in all of your mix-ins (snow, snowflakes, sequins, etc.).
6. Mix in 1/2 cup baking soda. Baking soda will help determine your slime’s thickness.
7. Add 1 Tbsp. of contact solution. Mix in. The slime will be ready to knead when the slime pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  
8. Knead the slime. It will be sticky at first, but as you continue to knead it, it should become more the consistency that you’re looking for. If it’s still too sticky, you can add a drop or two more of the contact solution, but be careful not to over activate.
9. Store in an airtight container when not in use. 

Sensory play:

This slime provides visual, tactile, and proprioceptive feedback. Because of all the textures and crunch incorporated in this, it has more tactile input than most slimes. By stretching, pushing, kneading, pulling, and pressing, kids will get proprioceptive feedback as well.You can expand the sensory play value of this by adding in Frozen mini figurines. This allows kids to use their imagination and create different storylines. You could also make a Frozen Inspired Sensory Bin. 

Check out our other slime recipes:

Unicorn Fluffy Slime Minnie Mouse Slime Lion King Slime