You don’t need many ingredients to make this beautiful galaxy slime with the kids. Read below for all of the details.
Related: How to Make Slime with Kids
If you’re a regular reader of Fun-A-Day, you know that making slime is a favorite science and sensory activity over here. I’ve made slime with my students, my son, and even some of my friend’s children.
While many adults don’t care for slime, I am all for it! That’s probably why my friends know their kids can just come over to my place to make slime. Fun for me and the kids, and less worry for them.
A Word about Slime Safety First
Of course, we can’t jump right into making our galaxy slime without having a chat about safety.
Making slime is an amazing science activity, and it really engages the kids’ senses (particularly sight and touch). But you definitely want to set the slime making experience up with safety in mind.
This activity is only appropriate for children who don’t put things in their mouths. If your students are still putting the occasional material into their mouth, skip this. None of the materials in this slime recipe are to be ingested. And neither is the slimy end result.
As I mentioned above, I love making slime with kids. I’ve been doing it for years (even before Fun-A-Day was “born”). I’ve never run into any bad reactions, but that doesn’t mean you won’t. Keep an eye out for possible skin sensitivities when making and playing with slime.
Make sure the children wash their hands before and after making slime, and always (always!) make sure that there’s at least one adult overseeing the kids’ interactions with slime.
Some adults prefer to make the slime themselves, while others love getting the kids in on the action. That’s your own personal decision.
Just treat this activity as you would any science experiment or activity – with knowledge, caution, and a sense of fun!
Related: Molten Lava Slime for Kids
How to Make Galaxy Slime
Today I want to share with you an absolutely gorgeous slime that’s perfect for a preschool space theme.
Or young space enthusiasts. Or kids who just love making cool slime. Adults are welcome, too, of course.
Ingredients You Need
Clear glue or White glue
Liquid watercolors
Liquid starch
Glitter (optional)
Since we’ve been making slime for years and years now, I have to admit that I’m a bit particular about the brands I use.
Elmer’s clear glue is my favorite, as is Elmer’s white glue. I just like how they consistently work time and time again. White glue was used in the pictures and video, but don’t be afraid to try clear glue. We’ve made this galaxy slime with clear glue in the past. It will make the colors even deeper!
When it comes to liquid watercolors, I have two favorites – Discount School Supply (this is what we used for the batch of galaxy slime seen in the pictures here) and Sargent Art. They’re my go to, and I have a stash of both with my sensory and science materials.
For our favorite version of galaxy slime, we used black, purple, silver, magenta, and turquoise liquid watercolors. You can make your own color combinations of course!
Sta-Flo is the only liquid starch I ever use when making slime. That might just be because it’s the brand I can easily grab at a local store. I haven’t even tried any other brands of liquid starch.
You can always experiment with using different brands for each of the materials, of course! No need to just take my word for it.
You’ll notice I said the glitter was optional. I’m of the mindset that glitter makes everything better (I’m wearing a shirt that says “Glitter is my favorite color” as I type this. No I’m not joking!). I know not everyone agrees with me. So add it in if you want to, but I promise I won’t be offended if you choose to leave it out of your own galaxy slime.
Galaxy Slime Directions
Once you’ve got all of your materials gathered, it’s time to jump into the slime making fun!
As I mentioned above, we used five different colors of slime to make one gloriously awesome galaxy slime – black, purple, silver, magenta, and turquoise. So we made 5 separate batches of slime for this particular “recipe”.
You, of course, do not have to use all five like we did. This combination just happened to be our favorite (we’ve made a couple of different batches to experiment). Maybe just pick a couple of colors to start with if five seems like too much.
Each batch was made with the same basic slime recipe:
5 ounces of clear or white glue
2 tablespoons of liquid watercolors
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) of liquid starch
Glitter (we don’t really measure our glitter)
Add the glue to a plastic or glass bowl. If you’re like us, you have a bowl dedicated just to making slime.
Next, add the liquid watercolors and stir well.
We tend to use large craft sticks to stir, but you can use spoons if you’d like.
Then pour your glitter in and mix some more. If you’re using clear glue, the glitter will be more apparent. If you’re using white glue, the glitter effect might be a bit muted.
Once the glue is all colorful and sparkly, it’s time to add the liquid starch.
I suggest adding it slowly as you stir, and make sure to keep mixing well. This is where the slime “magic” happens. You’ll see the slime start to form and pull away from the side of the bowl.
Here is the key to making slime – kneading it! Yes, just like you’d knead bread dough. Get your hands into the bowl and start kneading. Or you can take it out of the bowl and knead on a hard surface. Your choice.
Now’s the perfect time to add more glitter if you’d like to!
Keep kneading the slime until it gets to the consistency you like. My preference is slime that’s silky and doesn’t stick to my hands.
After you’ve made all five colors of slime, lay them out side by side.
Related: Ultimate List of Types of Slime
Let the children explore and manipulate the slimes. Don’t be afraid to let the colors mix!
I think that makes the best galaxy slime – when all of the colors mix together and create something entirely new.
Related: Coffee Filter Planets Space Craft
Galaxy Slime Video Directions
If you’d like to see the galaxy slime making process, here you go:
Exploring Your Galaxy-Themed Slime
As I said above, let the kids get their hands into the slime and explore it!
Let the children stretch the slime (within reason of course – I wouldn’t suggest stretching it too close to anyone’s hair). The kids can also press into the slime with their hands and fingers.
Basically, just let the children manipulate the slime as they see fit (again, within reason). Observe how they use the galaxy slime, and be sure to listen to their conversations. I love hearing the observations the kids make when using slime.
If you want to, consider adding some star-shaped glitter to your galaxy slime. Or maybe some small space toys. Then sit back and watch how the kids play.
Break out some pictures of our galaxy and chat with the children about what they see in the pictures. This is a great time to discuss space with the children, if they’re interested.
When the kids are done playing and exploring, story the slime in an airtight container to play with later.
Related: Space Themed Preschool Sensory Activity
Preschool Space Lesson Plans
You can find so many done-for-you preschool teacher resources for you at Preschool Teacher 101! There are lesson plans, math and STEM activities, and literacy resources. Be sure to check out our membership options while you’re there.
Our space lesson plans include a week’s worth of lesson plans all about space. It comes with printable weekly plans, daily plans, center ideas, book suggestions, and related printables.
Grab the preschool lesson plans here
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers
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