Add a bowl of plastic syringes or eyedroppers for older children to practice drawing up the slime then squirting it out. Add dolls and dolly clothes along with a tub of water and use the soap slime to shampoo dolly's hair and wash clothes. Make sure to rinse and provide pegs and a low line so they can hang up their washing to dry. Tip onto a tray or into a few bowls and let the messy fun begin! You might also like to try some of the ideas below. Provide a basket of baby safe loose parts for them to use and investigate with the slime ( see this post for loose part ideas) This slime recipe is best prepped the night before so the balls have time to draw in the moisture, soften and swell.

Leave on the bench to soak in the water overnight. The balls absorb the water, become nearly translucent and swell (so make sure you use a large bowl!) You don't need to source numerous materials and follow complicated directions to make my 5 Easy Slime Recipes! I believe strongly as both a parent and early childhood educator that children should be offered access regularly to sensory play opportunitiesfrom a young age and fun with slime is an excellent example! Sensory play obviously doesn't alwaysneed to include messy play but it's certainly a bonus and can help with sensory processing as they grow – along with many other important learning and developmental outcomes. But isn't slime too dangerous for baby and toddler? Provide a basket of plastic cups, jugs and spoons for children to fill with frothy concoctions. I have set up a ‘coffee shop' dramatic play area outdoors before(for 2 years up) using this frothy slime. I've collected 5 of my absolute favourite DIY slime recipes in this post for you to try – these are the ones I have used over many years with my own children and also while working with babies and toddlers in both early learning centre and Family Day Care environments. They only require a few basic ingredients and the children can usually join in the process of making the slime as well.Sprinkle the powder across top of water and whisk or stir for around 2 minutes (the kids love doing this part so hand out those whisks!) Collect flowers together and use the slime pushed into recycled lids as a base to create florist arrangements. Simply spread out on a table and invite those little fingers to get busy squelching, pouring, fingerpainting, cooking, drawing patterns and so much more.

The ingredients above make the amount of slime you see in the red slime picture below . I made a few extra batches after the first trial run. I’d caution against trying to double the recipe as even this small amount easily bubbles over the bowl when making it in the microwave – worth taking a little extra time to make batches separately. For a firmer, blubbery type slime – Microwave for suggested time and add a little more powder to the recipe if you need to after you try your first batch.You really don't need precise measurements for this one – I don't think I have ever measured the powder out, it's all about trial and error and how much you want to make. But you can start with these measurements and modify from there for a large tub. Older children will enjoy the processes of measuring, mixing, pouring, whisking and kneading and you can go into greater detail about the scientific processes taking place. If you are making slime with a multi age group the babies and toddlers will often watch how the older children are playing and then try to replicate or explore in their own way.

If you want to create different colours for your sago slime separate into a few smaller bowls now and sprinkle a little edicol dye into each bowl. Mix well – this is a wonderful colour mixing and naming activity for the children to take part in so try and involve them in the preparation process if you can. If you would prefer not to add colour it will make no difference whatsoever – the real learning outcome of this activity is the opportunity for sensory exploration.This recipe is made without glue/borax/ enter crazy ingredient here or any of those other strange ideas I’ve been reading about online.

For younger children and babies you can help do this step with them of course and I usually make it a little firmer rather than too slippery so they can grasp and manipulate easier. To be honest, I very rarely measure with this one – you can make more or less you just need to experiment a little to get the consistency you are happy with – sometimes I add more gelatin than this or a little more dishwashing liquid. You don't need to be too precise, the fun is in the experimentation process anyway! What to do next… Add scissors for 3 years up and watch as they try to cut through the stretchy slime to make smaller pieces. Provide blunt butter knives as another way to strengthen and explore cutting skills.We all know that children will wipe eyes with messy hands or try to sneak a taste test so just keep this in mind. There is some minor risk but the benefits of this type of play far outweigh those risks in my opinion – especially if you are using the recipes below rather than the current popular options made with materials like Borax, starch and PVA glue which I prefer not to use around young children. And even better… you will be saving money too! What defines a slime recipe? Cup WaterFood colouring or edicol colour dyes {Optional} I used edicol dye because I use them to colour my DIY cornflour paint base as well and they wash out of clothes so easily! Collect all the bikes and cars to setup a large carwash station using the foamy slime and big sponges to wash. Hose everyone off afterwards – lots of fun on a hot day. For babies add balls of the slime to a tray placed on the ground so they can reach, grasp and squish. Adding to a fruit net bag and tying the end is also lots of sensory fun as the slime squirts through the holes as they grasp and release. I get asked this a lot – along with many of the other sensory activities I share and my answer is always the same NO! As long as you use safe/edible materials and supervise (as you always should with this age anyway!)Don't leave babies and toddlers out of the fun and learning opportunities just because they require closer supervision around this type of play!