Silly Sludge

My kids love to do all kinds of arts and crafts! I’m not much of an artist, so I just let them handle that part. But the crafts I can do! The other day, we made a fun craft that we like to call Silly Sludge! In my opinion, it’s the perfect craft because the kids can help make it, and they can play with it for hours and hours afterward. That makes me one happy mama!

Silly Sludge is goopy and droopy. But not at all slimy.

Plus, it kind of acts like Silly Putty and copies things from the newspaper!

I love it because it’s not as messy as Play Dough. Even if it gets on the carpet, it just picks right up. (Obviously, don’t leave it for several hours) And if it get’s left out on the counter for a few hours – no problem! It doesn’t dry up very quickly like Play Dough does. Plus, it’s super easy to make!

Here’s what you need:

For one small batch:
1/2 bottle of glue (or 1/4 cup)
a little less than 1/4 cup of water + 1/4 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon borax
Food Coloring

Borax is so easy to find! And it’s cheap. Just look in the laundry section of the store. One box is enough to make about a million batches of Silly Sludge.

To make Silly Sludge, first start by measuring and pouring the glue into a glass bowl. It doesn’t have to be glass, but it will be easier to clean if it is.

Then add a little less than 1/4 cup of water and stir it until it’s mixed up pretty well. The amount of water doesn’t need to be exact at all!

Add in a tiny bit of food coloring. Like even one drop if you can.  If you add too much, you may get some on your hands when you play with it. Mix it up until the color is combined.

Set that bowl aside. Now measure out 1/4 cup of hot water and stir in 1/2 teaspoon of Borax. Mix it around until the Borax dissolves. It may not all dissolve, but mostly is okay. The hot water really helps.

Now comes the fun (and educational) part! Pour the Borax mixture into the glue mixture and stir.

Almost immediately, the Borax causes the glue to make a polymer chain (which means, it makes the glue’s molecules stick together). It’s pretty cool!

If all of the water doesn’t absorb into the Silly Sludge, it’s no big deal!  Move the Silly Sludge out of the bowl and play with it! The more you play with it, the better it gets. You can store it in a small zip lock bag.

I’m linking this post up to these parties.