Did you know that something as ooey and gooey as slime is actually good for your kids? Slime is considered a sensory toy and helps your child develop their fine motor skills, dexterity, and get over any tactile issues they might have when they play with it. Get your kids ready for life by creating oozing, wobbly slime at home. It will keep your little one’s entertained for hours as they enjoy moving and squeezing the slime. Just make sure you’re always there to watch to make sure they don’t eat it!
Here is an easy recipe that you can try at home with your kids. We’ll also give you some additional sensory play ideas on how to make the slime play an even more tactile and enjoyable experience.
What you’ll need:
8 tsp Psyllium Husks
3 cups of water
1 tsp food colouring
How to make it
Step 1 - Mix the psyllium husks, food colouring and water in a large bowl.
Step 2 - Pop it in the microwave and check on it every minute or so to ensure that you get it to the perfect consistency.
Step 3 - Wait until it’s completely cooled down, and then get playing!
Fun Games to Play with Slime
Blow Bubbles
A fun and interesting game for kids of all ages is blowing bubbles with the slime. Once you’ve made the homemade slime, get a range of straws and get the kids to blow bubbles into the slime. It helps to increase their lung capacity as they blow but also encourages them to follow instructions and improve fine motor skills.
Guess the Smell
Separate the slime into a variety of batches and mix different essential oils into the different batches - oils like peppermint, lavender and rose. For the older kids, get them to smell the scent of each batch of slime and try to guess the scent.
Find the Hidden Toy
Hide a variety of plastic toys in the slime (make sure the toys are made of plastic and easy to clean afterwards, we wouldn’t recommend using any soft or plush toys for this game). Then get the kids to dig into the slime and find the hidden toys. To make it even more exciting, try blindfolding the kids and getting them to find a toy and then guess what it is.
Make A Slime Road
The slime is incredibly stretchy, which makes it an awesome toy to stretch and mould. Get the kids to stretch the slime into a long road (this is great for their dexterity and strength) and place toy cars and motorbikes onto the road. They can also make play-play water or farms and place their animals into it too. Let their imagination run wild!
Worried about the kids clothing after a day of fun with slime? Not to worry, just make sure you wash their clothes with a great quality laundry detergent like OMO to get the stains out quickly, every time.
For more information on why messy play is so important for kids, check out the OMO Messy Play Zone now.