Last weekend, my 8YO son and I volunteered at the VirginiaMuseumOfTransportation, one of many venues (including the ScienceMuseumOfWesternVirginia and local retailers) that participated in the Generic Magic Festival in Roanoke, Virginia.  Of all the activities on offer, making slime 'Troll boogies' was, by far, the favorite. The museum was giving out eye balls as prizes for the scavenger hunt, so it was easy to convert our troll boogies to baby slime monsters, which double as super-cool Halloween decorations (just don't put on wood or walls). My 3rd-grade son and I definitely want to check out the whole scene next year.

Slime ingredients: Elmer’s glue, food coloring, water, baking soda, and saline (which contains boric acid), *in that order*. Once you’ve tried the ‘proven’ recipe (https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/make-homemade-slime-s…/ ), be sure to experiment with different quantities of ingredients 😉.

This slime is a ‘semisolid’, exhibiting characteristics of both solid and liquid states of matter, and is a great addition to curricula related to states of matter (required curricula for 2nd grade and beyond). We enjoy demonstrating this by turning our slime ball into a frisbee and throwing at a wall, and then shaping the slime and leaving it on a non-wood surface so we can witness it flatten out, like a pancake, over time.

Note: If you can’t find plastic eyeballs (or don’t care to), you can paint eyeballs onto ping-pong balls or rocks even.

------

More links related to teaching States of Matter:

States of Matter Lesson Plan

Hands-On Activity: Silly Semi Solids

States of Matter, Video 2

------

More fun ideas at www.melissarooneywriting.com