Homemade Slime

Learn how to make slime with this awesome Fluffy Slime Recipe for kids! Get ready for a fun, squishy science experiment that will lead to hours of sensory play.

Jump to:

• This Fluffy Slime is So Fun to Make!
• Important Safety Precautions When Making Homemade Slime
• Fluffy Slime Recipe Ingredients and Supplies
• How to Make Fluffy Slime
• How to Make Slime With Glue: Experiment Explained
• Cloud Slime Recipe Tips
• A Science Experiment You Can Play With!
• Cloud Slime Recipe Variations
• How to Store Fluffy Slime
• WATCH: Cloud Slime Recipe
• How to Make Fluffy Slime FAQs
• More Hands-On Crafts and Activities!
• Enjoy!
• More Crafts!
• Fluffy Slime Recipe
• Safety precautions- 

This Fluffy Slime is So Fun to Make!

Creating this fluffy slime recipe has made me wonder...why have I waited so long to make homemade slime? This stuff is amazing! 

Fluffy slime is so much fun to make, plus it's a great opportunity for a hands-on, science experiment based playtime!

I've discovered so many different slime recipes and can't wait to try more. To start, I chose to learn how to make slime with glue, shaving cream, saline solution and an optional use of borax. 

I’m finding that you can play around with these recipes a little bit as you learn more about them. I have a lot of things I would like to try and to learn in the future! This is my first venture, so I’ll keep you posted on my experiments!

Important Safety Precautions When Making Homemade Slime

• Use this recipe with older children!
• Keep young kids and pets away from borax. Be sure to throw all extra borax solution away when done. 
• Shaving foam can burn your eyes so don't touch or rub your eyes while handling. 
• Stir the mixture with a silicone spatula until the Borax mixture has been fully mixed in and the slime is pulling away from the bowl.
• Wear gloves if you have sensitive skin. I had no problems, but others may. Also food coloring can put color on your skin.
• Work over a table or flat surface as I'm guessing that slime would stick in carpet.

Fluffy Slime Recipe Ingredients and Supplies

You don't need many ingredients or materials to make this fun fluffy slime recipe! Gather the following slime ingredients, and keep in mind they are not suitable for young ages:

• PVA glue- white school glue is better than clear glue for this recipe (like Elmer's School glue)
• Water
• ​Baking soda
• Shaving cream- spray foam type in a can
• Saline solution- a brand of contact lens solution that includes boric acid and sodium borate- read the ingredient list! Find in the store section for “eye products”, it's a solution used for contacts.
• Borax- found in the laundry section (optional- but I used it in this video)
• Optional Extra Ingredients: Food coloring, Glitter
• Equipment: Mixing bowls, Measuring cups and spoons, Silicone spatula (for stirring)

How to Make Fluffy Slime

Once you have your ingredients and equipment gathered, it's time to mix up a batch of slime!

Stir the mixture with a silicone spatula until the Borax mixture has been fully mixed in (the very last step) and the slime is pulling away from the bowl.

Step 1: Make The First Borax Mixture

Important: Keep this mixture away from younger children and pets. Throw away all extra solution when you finish.

I started by making a borax solution. To a medium sized mixing bowl measure out and add a cup of warm water and 1 tablespoon of Borax. 

Stir this mixture until dissolved and then set aside. 

Step 2: Make Second Glue Mixture

Now pull out a large mixing bowl for the glue mixture. In this bowl, add ½ cup of warm water and 1 whole cup of glue. 

Now if you’d like to, you can purchase glitter glue to add into your recipe (I bought mine at the Dollar Store). But plain white glue or Elmer's glue will work and you have the option of adding glitter in a bit. 

Step 3: Add Shaving Cream

Mix the glue and the water together a bit, then add 3 to 4 cups of shaving cream. This was fun, spraying the foam made the best hissing noise! 

I measured out the shaving cream, but if you would prefer, you can just squirt a large amount into the bowl! (If you have leftovers, try making this cool Shaving Cream Marbling on Paper!)

Step 4: Add Baking Soda

To this mixture, add a half teaspoon of baking soda.

Now I just want to reminder you to note the difference between baking soda and baking powder! We need baking soda in this recipe, NOT powder.

Step 5: Choose Food Coloring and Glitter

Next, I added a few drops of food coloring (optional) to my mixture (mine was a gel but liquid food coloring works too).

Some of my glue was a glitter glue, which already had a little bit of blue coloring in it. However I wanted it to be a bit more vibrant so I added more blue food coloring!

At this point, you could add other things to your solution as well. I would’ve added glitter to it if I had it. I have it somewhere in my “stash” but just couldn’t find it. 🙁

Step 6: Add Saline Solution

After you've mixed these ingredients, add 2 Tablespoons of saline solution. Saline solution is a slime activator (it activates a chemical reaction)! 

As I said in the supplies list, your saline solution needs to include boric acid and sodium borate. Read the label on the saline solution container before purchasing, to make sure it has these ingredients.

How to Make Slime With Glue: Experiment Explained

The perfect fluffy slime recipe just happens to be a craft AND a science experiment - SCORE! 

This is where the magic begins to happen.

As you mix, you’ll see a chemical reaction begin take place. Pretty cool - this is just the best way to mix science with crafts!

The glue is a PVA glue (polyvinyl acetate) with molecules that are in a liquid form. The saline solution contain boric acid and also is in a liquid form (the borax solution too). 

When we combine the activator boric acid (molecules in the saline solution and later in the Borax) and polyvinyl acetate (in the cup of Elmer glue), we trigger a chemical reaction. Specifically, the borate ions in the boric acid trigger a chemical reaction in the polyvinyl acetate!

Whew, I'm a home ec teacher, not a science teacher, but this is fascinating. 

The molecules in this new solution become long and stringy. As a result, the mixture changes and becomes something between a liquid and a solid. This is a non-Newtonian fluid.

The mixture has new properties - new ways of acting and feeling. It moves through your fingers and oozes into the shape of whatever container you put it in. In other words, it's slime!

Cloud Slime Recipe Tips

• White Glue- Use Elmer's white glue or other brand of white glue to make the fluffiest slime (PVA glue- white glue is better)
• Halve or Divide- This recipe is large, so if you are making for one child I would suggest cutting it in half! If multiple children are playing with the slime, simply divide in portions for each.
• Too Sticky?- If your slime is a bit sticky, add a little saline solution or baby oil to your hands before picking it up

Thickening Your Slime

In this final step, the ingredients interact and begin to thicken and pull away from the sides of the bowl as you stir. (And now you know why!)

As you mix, you may find that you don’t need to add anything more to the mixture. Your slime may just start setting up and that’s all you need to do. 

However, if your slime is too sticky and you'd like it to firm up, you can use the Borax mixture. I do make that ingredient optional, because you may not need it.

I wanted my slime to firm up a bit more, so I used a little of the Borax solution. Add one tablespoon of the Borax solution to the glue mixture in the large bowl. Mix thoroughly and it will begin to set up even more.

When your mixture pulls away from the bowl, you are ready to start playing with the slime!

A Science Experiment You Can Play With!

Once you finish the fluffy slime, the science experiment is ready for sensory play! I couldn’t wait to get my hands into it, the texture was so neat.

So I played around with it for a while and began to knead it. And as I kneaded the slime it firmed up more and more, so it was less sticky and easy to handle. 

Mine probably got even a little bit too stiff by the end, I would have liked stretchier slime. But it had such a fluffy consistency and I had so much fun playing with it and pulling on it.

This recipe is large enough for several kids to play with. Simply divide the final slime into portions for each child to handle easily. They could make theirs different colors and add in more glitter into their own homemade fluffy slime. It could be a contest to make the best slimes!!

Cloud Slime Recipe Variations

Now that I've made my first DIY slime recipe, there are more I’d like to try. I plan on making all kinds of slime forms- like regular slime with a basic recipe, clear as well as glitter slime, unicorn and cloud slime. I've discovered there is way more to life than just fluffy shaving cream slime 😉

In the future, I'd like to make a slime that would be better for young children, with more simple ingredients. Perhaps a more basic recipe like a liquid starch slime- one that isn't a borax slime with shaving cream.

Play with add-ins, like adding in some small beads for example. Maybe putting sand in it or some other substance that would give it a feeling of texture that’s different yet.

This is my first time making this I’m late to the party, but I thought it was so much fun!

How to Store Fluffy Slime

Your slime will last a number of days if you keep it in an airtight container.

This "How to Make the Best Fluffy Slime Recipe for Kids" was my first attempt at slime but I promise you it won’t be my last! I'm hopping on the slime craze.

WATCH: Cloud Slime Recipe

Watch this craft/science experiment for fluffy slime on YouTube here: Best Fluffy Slime Recipe on YouTube

While you are there, like the video and subscribe to see more craft videos in the future!

How to Make Fluffy Slime FAQs

More Hands-On Crafts and Activities!

If you’re looking for some other ways to get your hands on some fun, here are some other ideas for you:

Enjoy!

Try this craft, leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo with #WelcometoNanas wherever you post.

This post was originally published in January 2024 and has been updated to add more relevant and detailed content.