In our small little community, we have formed a group of homeschooling families. This has enabled us to get together and head to the park on nice days, meet for lunch and play, and to get together to do the things that we don’t normally do by ourselves. One of the things the mothers and I discussed that we DON’T like to do is science experiments and messes! The thought of glitter, slime, or any other “messy” thing is not something we would attempt in our homes. Who want’s to pick up extra messes?!?!
We decided to plan a day that we all got together then we could share in the clean up:) We started out by having lunch, everyone brought something and we shared in a potluck style feast. Then the messes began……(it really wasn’t that bad). I had each family, bring a couple of ingredients that we needed. One mom would bring the Borax, another mom a box of cornstarch and glitter. That way everyone just spent a few dollars on things we needed and we could all share.
One of the things we made was playdough. This is something that we have made for many, many years. It is a great recipe and does not get hard, if you keep it in a plastic baggie. We added glitter to some and the children enjoyed making creations with it.
This is the recipe that I use for my play dough. It makes a nice spongy dough. Not a messy dough to play with at all. I mix up double batches at a time.
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
- 1/2 c salt
- 2 T cream of tartar
- 2 T vege oil
- 2 c flour
- colorings
In a saucepan boil the water, salt, cream of tartar, and oil. You can add your food colorings at this moment. Sometimes I add a packet of Kool Aid. It makes a great smelling playdough. Then I add my flour. I like to add it with a wooden spoon and stir it in as best as I can. It will be quite chunky and sticky but will get spongy as it cools. I then flop it onto the countertops and as I can stand kneading it, without scalding my hands, I knead. As the dough cools it gets spongy. As I am kneading it, I also add my scents and colors, depending upon if I didn’t already. Store in plastic bag.
We then made a bouncy ball. This bouncy ball was just a temporary bouncy ball. It bounced for a couple of days–if you kept it in a sealed container. Then it eventually got hard. This is the ingredients that you need:
- Borax (found in laundry section)
- warm water
- corn starch
- glue
- 2 small mixing cups–use disposable and throw away afterwards
- a stirring stick (plastic spoon)
- food coloring (optional)
Label one cup ‘Borax Solution’ and the other cup ‘Ball Mixture’. This helps in the confusion of making 15 different cups for children?!!?!?
- Pour 4 ounces of warm water into the cup labeled ‘Borax Solution’ and 1 teaspoon of the borax powder into the cup. Stir the mixture to dissolve the borax.
- Pour 1 tablespoon of glue into the cup labeled ‘Ball Mixture’. Add 3-4 drops of food coloring, if desired.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of the borax solution you just made and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to the glue. Do not stir.
- Allow the ingredients to interact on their own for 10-15 seconds and then stir them together to fully mix.
- Once the mixture becomes impossible to stir, take it out of the cup and start molding the ball with your hands. The ball will start out sticky and messy, but will solidify as you knead it. Once the ball is less sticky, continue rolling between your hands until it is smooth and round!
The last thing that we made was flubber or slime. This was probably everyone’s favorite thing to make. My children enjoyed playing with it for days afterward. My little boys learned that you could put it in a cup and make a “flarp” sound. Boys?!?! 
What you need:
- 3/4 cup cold water
- 1 cup Elmer’s glue
- liquid food coloring
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon borax
In bowl – mix together the cold water, glue, and food coloring. set aside.
In bowl 2 – mix together the hot water and borax, until the borax is completely dissolved.
Then slowly add glue mixture to borax mixture. Mix well and pour off excess water.
The only thing I noticed is that if left on clothing–it is hard to get off. Get it off when it is wet not hardened. My floors which are tile, I had to scrape hard spots that got on the floor a few days afterward, they came off but I would not recommend getting it on the carpet. This was definitely fun! We will make it again because my children enjoyed playing with it so much!
Be brave and bold and grab a couple of families together and enjoy making messes together!
Have a blessed day!
