I am so excited to share these with you and showcase a fun new DIY recipe for making Fluffy Slime that will DEFINITELY be on our summer craft agenda this year multiple times. Making slime is a lot of fun and a great way to teach your children how to measure ingredients.
Summer Brain Quest workbooks are meant as a tool to help kiddos (and their teachers) to prevent “summer slide.”
Did you know that most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in math, and many also lose reading achievement, during the summer?
Now Brain Quest joins the fight against it with workbooks targeting each summer between kindergarten and 6th grade.
As my own child is approaching her 6th grade year, we are so excited to get to work in these.
These smart books include a pull-out map that guides kids on a learning quest.
They fill in their route on the map by earning stickers for completing workbook pages as well as pursuing outdoor activities.
The map offers a choice of routes, allowing kids to customize their learning path and pursue what excites them most (extra math problems? more hands-on science?), and also encouraging them to jump around within the book to follow their curiosity.
I love that this structure helps them learn yet feels like a game!
They even hired the video game artist, Edison Yan, to make every book feel fresh and fun for kids!
In honor of this launch, we thought we’d launch a little something of our own and make some Fluffy Slime to celebrate.
Homemade slimes are quite exciting at our middle school and I have heard there are even slime trades going on when kids mix up a batch.
There has been so much fluffy slime-making that there has even been a reported glue shortage throughout certain areas of the country.
Who knew slime was so dang cool?
Luckily, this diy craft is easy to execute with just a few simple ingredients. Keep in mind, everyone has their own take on slime and require different ingredients.
Some even have contact lens solution (saline solution), baking soda, sodium borate, or other ingredients.
This recipe, however, is simple, straightforward, and foolproof.
We wanted to show you how to make my fluffy slime recipe today which would be the perfect summer activity to do together and another fun way to break your kids out of that summer slump! If there is one thing I know as a mom it is that kids love slime.
How to Make the DIY Fluffy Slime Recipe With These Fluffy Slime Ingredients
check out this diy slime recipe video for an additional quick tutorial
Ingredients & Supplies Needed
Elmer’s Washable Glue (this school glue size is the best bet so you don’t run out of your trusty white glue!)
Borax (Make sure a parent supervises and assists with this ingredient. Please note, borax and boric acid are not the same thing. You definitely want to have Borax for this slime recipe)
Shaving Cream (the cheap foaming kind, not the gel variety! look for sensitive skin options if you have a child with sensitive skin)
Water
Measuring cups, spoons, and bowl
Food coloring (optional)
Directions for Making Fluffy Slime
1. Measure one cup of hot water and mix this with 1 tablespoon of Borax.
Mix until these two ingredients are fully incorporated and the water turns clear.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT- reports of reactions to Borax are because it has not been properly diluted.
I recommend that the parents do this step to insure the safety of the slime.
Set aside.
2. Add one cup of glue to a large bowl and mix this with a 1/2 cup of water until it is fully incorporated.
3. Add shaving cream to the bowl (3 1/2 cups!) and mix together well.
Next, add a few drops of food coloring (we used red in our version) to add a pretty hue to your slime.
Once this is all mixed well, add a tablespoon of your Borax mixture and mix well.
If it is sticky add more Borax tablespoon by tablespoon until your slime pulls away from the mixing bowl and starts to form into a ball.
Our slime only required three tablespoons of our diluted Borax mixture before it pulled away into a ball!
There you have it, folks. It’s time to play with slime for the summer.
We are so excited to share our DIY fluffy slime with our friends and to also share these Summer Brain Quest workbooks with you! Yay!
Here are some FAQ about Homemade Slime
What is the best way to store my homemade slime?
There are several strategies for storage and, by far, the easiest and cheapest storage option is a plastic bag. You will want to add the slime into the bag and make sure to take out all the air in the baggie before completely sealing.
If you choose to put it in a plastic container, you will want to make sure that your slime JUST FITS so that you can keep as much air out of the container as possible. If you can’t find the proper storage size container, you can add a sheet of plastic wrap to the top of your slime to keep the moisture locked in.
What if my my slime dries out?
Isn’t that just the worst? Have you heard of slime activator? Check out these options because this is an easy way to restore the texture of your slime without going to a lot of trouble. Slime activators can also be an excellent way to get kids to make slime all on their own.
If you don’t want to buy a slime activator, consider adding a couple of drops of antibacterial gel to your slime to help it reconstitute.
What can I mix into my homemade slime?
Honestly, the possibilities are just endless for making your own eye-catching version. Check out these slime kits for some really fun options.
Wouldn’t these slime kits also make excellent birthday gifts?
What if I want to share my slime with friends?
Aren’t crafts so much more fun when you can share them with friends? I highly recommend that you give these containers as a great storage option. Basically, you can have a little slime in your backpack wherever you go.
How long does homemade slime last?
This answer is entirely dependent upon how well you store it. As long as it isn’t smelly or moldy, or has completely hardened, you can still play with it.
One way you can get your slime to last longer, particularly in the summer months, is to store it in an airtight plastic bag in your refrigerator.
My child got slime all over our carpet. How do I remove slime from my floors?
The best way is to fill a spray bottle with one part vinegar to two parts water. After removing as much of the slime out of the carpet, by hand, spray the carpet generously with this solution. Let it set for a few minutes and then begin blotting it with a paper towel until you have removed all the slime. If you still have staining, you can opt for a carpet cleaner product like this one to get out the rest.
My child got slime in their hair. How do I remove the slime from hair?
Did you know that you can buy a slime deactivator product? If you find you are running into a lot of slime mishaps, this is a great product to keep on hand. This deactivating product will take the slime right out of your carpet and hair with ease.
Day. Saved.
You can learn more about Summer Brain Quest in the links below:
Visit their Official Site
Hang out on their blog Workman Blog
Follow @WorkmanPub on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest
Like @WorkmanPublishing on Facebook
This post was sponsored by Workman Publishing and Big Fat Notebooks. All thoughts and opinions are my own!
Don’t miss these other great posts from MomAdvice.com:
Happy slime making, friends!
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The Importance of S-Town
Monday, April 10th, 2017We rolled in last night after the most lovely little getaway to explore Minneapolis. Things have felt a bit off this month with our family’s rhythm that I can’t really explain right now, but that have made our down time feel a little more stressful and less enjoyable. As I surfed Midwest adventures on Groupon, I came across a deal for a cute hotel and we decided to just head on over there for a little escape.
For us, this trip was just WILD. Unplanned, poorly packed, and flying by the seat of our pants. A need to get the heck out after a gloomy, freezing, and dreary week in Indiana.
One of the coolest things about this job is the ability to find and connect with someone just about everywhere we go and my dear friend, Kelly Whalen, offered to spend a day with us and take us on a tour of the city. Since we had no plan, this sounded like heaven.
It was a magic-making kind of day where the kids hit it off like crazy, we ate incredible food, the conversations never dwindled, and we explored areas in her town that she hadn’t even got to do yet. Magic, I tell you!
Each of our trips end up having some kind of theme to them where we dive into something and just binge the heck out of it. Our fall trip, for example, was the trip of Hamilton that ultimately lead to our Christmas gift of tickets for our kids.
This trip ended up being the S-Town trip where my husband & I listened to seven hours of the most fascinating podcast I had ever encountered in my lifetime that has had my brain going nonstop since I finished it. (please note, no, this podcast is not for the kiddos- headphones were on them with something else going!)
If you haven’t heard of S-Town, it is a history-making podcast from the producers of Serial & This American Life where host, Brian Reed, leads their investigative team into a small town in Alabama to investigate a murder. John B. McLemore of Woodstock, Alabama, had emailed the producers of This American Life saying he had a story to tell about a covered-up murder that happened in his town. He calls his town, Shittown (thus the podcast name) and begins a year-long conversation with Reed that leads him all the way out to Woodstock to investigate McLemore’s claims. The series takes an immediate sharp turn that, honestly, shocked me to my core and the podcast becomes something entirely different than a true crime story.
They wisely released the show in it’s entirety which allows you to binge listen to this whole series without the usual Googling that I might have been doing between episodes, like I unapologetically did between episodes of Serial. Since the story develops and evolves so quickly, each chapter feels like almost its own unique listening experience and is almost like taking in a short story audiobook collection that come together in wild ways.
I don’t want to spoil anything if you haven’t dove into it, but I will say that the themes are dark, sexually graphic at times, and the language could be bothersome to some. The last two episodes, in particular, were unsettling on many levels, in what John might have wanted to have kept private and the fact that I don’t think much of it really added to the story of John.
What I will say is that this moved me in ways that I had not expected. It is a portrait of a tortured genius who desperately wanted love in his life. It’s about the cyclical nature of poverty, mental illness, frustrations with world issues that we cannot change, the struggles about leading a life that is true to you for fear of perception by those in a small town, and the rich layering of all people. Reed’s compassion flourishes even through, in my opinion, some of its more dicier moments.
Since John B. McLemore was a horologist, one of the most poignant moments in it were McLemore’s own reflections on time and how we use our time. He reflected on how many hours we actually have in our life to make use of. It was very mathematical and analytical, but so very rich.
Our time on earth is so fleeting and we are all gifted only so many hours in our day. How am I using this precious time and how can I make those moments really and truly count? Why are so much of my efforts and anxieties focused on things that just don’t matter and how can I make a better use of these hours given?
It made me thankful we had taken that trip.
They were precious hours that filled my cup.
There is much that I found to be profound in S-Town and there are far more thoughtful commentaries to read than I what I can share with you. What I can say though is that it moved me and made me think about a lot of things in new ways and it challenged me in ways that only the best documentaries and nonfiction books have.
I plan to relisten to this one to see what new nuggets I can get out of it and what I will hear in the story now that I know where Reed is leading me.
Once you finish the show (and not before!), you can head down the rabbit trail of articles and podcast commentary like I did:
S-Town Host Brian Reed on True Crime Podcasts and That Major Twist
Brian Reed, maker of S-Town: ‘People’s minds go to paranoid places very easily’
What does the song at the end of S-Town mean?
Who is John B. McLemore
Pop Culture Happy Hour’s Take On S-Town
Sorta Awesome’s Thoughts On S-Town
Longform Interview with Brian Reed
10 Podcasts You Need in Your Life After ‘S-Town’
Have you listened to S-Town? What did you think about this podcast?
Tags: Brian Reed, More Podcasts on S-Town, S-Town Podcast, S-Town Podcast Commentary, What Does Song in S-Town Mean
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