11 Easy Recipes for Playdough, Gak and Slime
Slime. Oobleck. Gak. Silly putty. These may all sound like silly names for a messy activity, but they are all ways for children to conduct sensory play.
What is sensory play? It’s any activity that engages the senses — sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch. Sensory play is important for fine and gross motor skills, language, problem solving, managing emotions and more.
And not only are slime activities easy for sensory play, they are easy to make! So we rounded up our 11 favorite recipes to make slime, gak, silly putty and playdough with your kids.
Two Ingredient Silly Putty
Silly putty was an accidental invention during the second World War. This rubber-like substance will mold into millions of shapes and even bounce! Make your own using only two household supplies: starch and glue.
No-Bake Playdough Recipe
This hands-on activity turns a few simple kitchen ingredients into playdough without using an oven.
Cook Up Some Edible Slime
Explore the properties of different ingredients and how they can transform while creating tasty (and safe!) edible slime. You can also use the slime to engage your child in a conversation about the chemistry and composition of the slime. What does the slime feel like? Is it a liquid like water? Or is it solid like a rock?
Create Kinetic Sand
Kinetic sand is similar to wet sand — you can mold it into different shapes, and the sand will not dry out. Learn how to make it by using just a few ingredients from the kitchen: baking soda, baking powder and dish soap!
How to Make Homemade Slime
Whether you call this slime, Flubber, Gluep, Glurch, or Gak, making and manipulating this gooey mixture is an engaging hands-on activity.
Rainbow Playdough
Little hands can create and learn the colors of the rainbow with this DIY playdough.
Digit’s Cyber-Dough Recipe
From the PBS KIDS show Cyberchase: Digit's recipe for Cyber-Dough is easy to make, fun to play with, and it has Hacker stumped! The recipe tells exactly how much salt to use, but Hacker can’t figure out how much flour, water and oil to add. Can your child help?
Create Colorful Cloud Dough
The basic recipe for cloud dough is 1:8, oil to flour: for every cup of oil, add 8 cups of flour — it’s as simple as that! Make multiple combinations of cloud dough using these ingredients from your cupboard. Then add food coloring, glitter or essential oils for fun as you play.
DIY Monster Slime
Engage in some imaginary monster-play when you learn how to make gooey monster slime two ways with this sensory craft. Don't worry — the slime washes off hands easily with soap and water!
Make Easy, Two-Ingredient Play Dough
Making play dough is an amazing hands-on activity, science experiment and boredom buster! The only two ingredients required for this easy recipe? Paint and corn starch.
How to Make Oobleck
Making oobleck is a great science and sensory project combined into one. After combining cornstarch and water, dip your hands into this non-Newtonian fluid — fluid that acts like a solid and a liquid at the same time.
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