Glowing Radioactive Slime

This is the coolest thing we've done in a while!

After a chat with my friend Kate from laughing kids learn about glow play & UV lights, I was inspired to start glowing experiments with Dimples because its been a while since our last glow play (Glowing Dragon Eggs) and it just happened that I had a jar of glow water but wasn't sure what to use it on.

Something different!

Slime... 

I wanted to make a slime that worked both ways because not every one has a UV light globe handy. So this slime is great for all occasions; it looks a little like gak through the day. 

Keep it in the fridge and its shivery cold to touch. 

 

Works well with a potato mash, funnels and grates that the slime can ooze through. Fill up a cup and watch it flatten,  fill up a funnel and watch it slowly descend.

 

Turn on the UV light and its radioactive, it glows vibrant & bright! Add some bright white googly eyes and it gives it a crazy spooky look under the UV light. If you haven't got a UV light I highly recommend it, it makes everything look so much brighter and definitely puts the GLOW in glowing play. 

Turn out all the lights and it still glows.

A subtle mystical glow, very intriguing and just as slimy. 

 

Making slime is a great lesson in chemistry (for school age children) it shows how substances react, mix, how liquids can become semi-solid. How borax dissolves, how it glows & scientific exploration regarding how substances move, sink and gravity. 

This is a Great sensory activity, especially if you store your slime in a zip lock bag in the fridge between play. It will not only feel smooth, look slimy but be shivery cold and have a clean gak kind of smell. 

How to make Glowing Radioactive Shivery Slime. 

You need Elmer's glue or Pva glue mixed with water at a ratio of 1 cup glue to 3/4 cup water.

If you have a UV light- use glow water or glow paint (highlighter ink infused water or UV/Fluro paint).

or if you want it to glow in the dark add glow in the dark paint.

If you would like it coloured add food colour here.

Or do all three if you want it to be radioactive green, UV and night glowing slime. Like our is. 

Mix well with a whisk or fork in a bowl and keep separate for a moment.

In another bowl dissolve a table spoon of borax in half a cup of hot water. 

Mix the two together in a zip lock bag and pop it in the fridge if you want it to be shivery cold slime. 

 

Have fun.

 

Learning concepts:

Science/chemistry

Measurement

Mixing

Gravity

Sensory exploration

Experimenting

Extension: 

Cutting the snotty gak - scissor practice

Experiment with different colour

Use clear glue vs white glue

What else can you make glow?

Other textured slime - Monster gellatine Slime

 

Happy Adventures



Monster Slime Mess



Gelatin Play is a new play material we have been experimenting with lately. This messy play was put together the night before by simply mixing gelatine powder, hot water and food colour. I used a star-fish snack tray and filled it up with some small plastic animals and put it in the fridge to set.

 

I put it on the glass table, set it out with some utensils and let Dimples go for it. Lets see where it lead us. As usual I love his imagination, today is was monster Slime. For a while it was Alien Poo but he kept coming back to monster slime.

He squished it through his fingers, and crushed and crushed and crushed it until the rubbery mass turned into a slippery slime. It made some pretty awesome sounds as he squeezed it in the palm of his hand and pushed it into the circular part of the tray. These 'fart' sounds were quite humorous to him, he was in hysterics making all sorts of sounds. Monster Farts he would exclaim in giggling fits of laughter.

With a knife and fork he cut some up, of course it was easy to cut but this task required lots of concentration and control. Hand eye co-ordination as he sliced it, holding the knife upright and then practising using a big spoon, scooping it all up and pouring it back into the dish.

He played for a good 40 minutes just experimenting with the texture, squishing it around and burying his hand under it. The only rule he had was to keep it on the table (he almost succeeded in this) it was quite a mess so be warned, but he done well and enjoyed the mess for much longer than I had expected.

I grabbed out a paper towel roll tube and gave it to him without instructions or any ideas and he did exactly as I expected. Used it as a tunnel and poured the slime through it.
Dimples experimented with gravity for a while, filling it up while it was level and then tipping it up and watching it all pour through.  He did get a little wild for a moment, as I was in the kitchen I turned around to see him doing a helicopter motion above his head with the tube and a trail or goo flying out. After I reminded him of the rules he didn't do it again and continued playing

More squishy sounds, more giggles and more imaginative stories. Alien slime, monster slime, an Aliens toilet, this dropped out of their space ship- Aliens must eat sharks and ocean creatures for dinner! The things he comes up with when he gets on a roll amuses me.

 

 Mixing, stirring, pouring, scooping, squishing and slicing up the slime. It went on for another 20 minutes as he used his utensils and by that time the slime had turned into more of a liquid. Then he made what he told me was a clock, a circular pattern in the slime by twisting the tube around. Dimples played around drawing through the liquid slime and making patterns through it on the glass table. Thankfully after he was done, he happily helped me clean it all up. Give him some clothes and a spray bottle and he will clean up just about anything, but this required a mummy clean and a good bath as he had it plopped all over the front of him, on his face and all over the place.
Dont let this put you off though, it was one of the most enjoyable activities he has done in a long while and he kept with it for longer than usual. The food colour doesnt stain and it is really easy to clean up as it doesnt dry on any surface.

Happy Adventures :)