Make Water Slime at Home

Materials you'll need

• Clear PVA glue
• Water
• Blue food coloring
• Borax (activator) ⚠️ See safety note below
• Large glass bowl
• Craft stick or spoon for stirring
• Measuring cup

*Safety note

Borax can irritate skin, especially with prolonged contact or for kids with eczema or sensitive skin. If you'd like to use a lower-concentration alternative, swap the borax/warm water mixture for a contact lens solution activator: mix ½ teaspoon of baking soda into the glue-water mixture, then slowly add contact lens solution one tablespoon at a time, stirring as you go, until the slime comes together. Check the label. It needs to list boric acid or sodium borate as an ingredient, or it won't work. Note that contact lens solution contains borax derivatives at a much lower concentration, so it's gentler but not entirely borax-free. Either way, wash hands after playing and keep slime away from eyes and mouths.

Heads up: swapping the activator may change how your slime turns out. Different concentrations can affect stretchiness and texture, so results may vary.

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Get out your large glass bowl and pour in 1 cup of clear glue.

Step 2: Add a few drops of blue food coloring and stir with a craft stick until the color is evenly mixed throughout the glue.

Step 3: Pour in 5 cups of water and stir to combine.

Step 4: Slowly pour in a borax/warm water mixture a little at a time, stirring continuously between additions. Keep adding and mixing until the slime comes together and holds its shape when you lift the spoon. It should look thick, glossy, and stretchy rather than watery.

Step 5: Once your slime is ready, reach in and play! Press it, pull it slowly to stretch, or yank it fast to see it snap.

Learn more

Slime starts as something science calls a polymer — the long-chain molecules in clear glue that normally slide past each other freely. When you add the borax mixture, the borate ions grab onto those chains and link them together, trapping water in between the network. The result is a non-Newtonian fluid: something that doesn't behave like a regular liquid. Pull it gently and it stretches like taffy; yank it fast and it snaps like a solid. The extra water in this recipe means more space between the linked chains, so the slime flows and pours almost like water when left alone, but squeeze or push it and the network stiffens up.