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Making homemade slime is an easy and fun sort of science experiment to keep the kids busy. Once you’ve mastered the basic technique, there’s no limit to the ideas you can come up with together.

Include it as an activity at your kids’ next birthday party. You can then give it away in party bags, or put together ready-made pots or DIY kits as gifts. You can make plain colours in either pastel or bright tones, add glitter for a sparkle effect, or mix colours for unicorn, rainbow or other multi-tone variations.

To start you off we’ve come up with a few ideas: green alien slime, mermaid glitter gloop from a faraway deep-blue sparkly lagoon and marbled unicorn slime. This slime makes the perfect sensory toy and is safe for little hands to make but do remember that it isn’t edible, so keep an eye on youngsters.

This method makes a ball of flexible slime close to silly putty in texture. It stays clean in your hands, making it a good choice for little kids. If you want your slime gloopier and more stringy, see the troubleshooter below.

Makes 1 small ball
Takes 10 minutes

1. Squeeze the glue into a mixing bowl (look for a bottle in a 100ml size if possible so you won’t have to measure it out). Add the bicarbonate of soda and mix well.

2. Add a drop or two of your chosen gel food colouring. Less colouring gives a pastel colour; the more you add, the brighter the colour. Mix until well incorporated.

3. Add the contact lens solution and mix. The slime will begin to form, going stringy before coming away clean from the bowl into a ball.

4. Once it has formed, take it out and knead it with your hands. It will be sticky at first but after about 30 seconds you’ll have a smooth and pliable ball. Add glitter at this point, if desired, and work in with your hands. Store in a pot with a lid.

The exact texture of slime can vary depending on the glue, contact lens solution and/or food colouring used. Here are some tips for your science experiments.

Help! My slime is brittle – how do I make it gloopier?

Try adding less than 1 tsp contact lens solution, mixing it in drop by drop until it just goes stringy and begins to come away from the bowl. Then knead.

I’d like fluffier slime

Try adding a small blob of shaving foam.

I’d like more slime

You can double or triple the quantities in the recipe.

My slime is too sticky, even after kneading

Try adding a drop more contact lens solution.

My slime won’t come together at all

Did you use saline solution? This cleans contact lenses but doesn’t work for slime – try a branded contact lens solution instead.

I want marbled or unicorn slime  

Make in two or more different colours, add glitter if you like, and roll the batches of slime into rough sausage shapes. Stack next to each other then twirl together in a plait and knead.