Sensory Play for Kids

Fun and Easy Slime Ideas for Kids

July 6, 2025

Create your very own slime creations for kids with loose parts. These slime ideas are sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Updated July 2025

Slime continues to be a favorite process art activity for our kids—and for good reason! It’s fun, sensory-rich, and surprisingly simple to make with just a few basic materials.

With a little preparation, slime play doesn’t have to be messy (or end up stuck in unexpected places). It can be a contained yet engaging experience for kids.

We love pairing materials with loose parts of all kinds, because the possibilities are endless and open-ended.

Even everyday objects—things that might normally be tossed in the recycling—can become exciting tools for play and artistic expression when placed in the hands of children.

Slime Ideas for Kids

MATERIALS

For the Slime:

Bowl
Spoon
Food coloring or liquid watercolors
1 tsp of baking soda
1 cup of glue
1 tsp of body lotion
Contact lens solution

For the creatures:

Slime
Tray
Precut pieces of colored paper
Scissors
Loose parts like: googly eyes, rings, sticks, screws, shredded paper, wood bits, lids, precut straws, beads, etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix ingredients together
Set out the supplies for the slime. I place a bowl on top of a tray to contain any mess and a spoon.

– Begin by adding the glue, baking soda and the lotion. Mix well.
– Add a few drops of color (liquid watercolors or food coloring) and keep mixing.
– Finally, squirt in the contact lens solution little by little. Then continue mixing until the desired consistency is reached.
Stretch the slime!
Ask your kids to take the slime with their hands, stretch it and knead it well.
Pro tip: In order to keep the slime contained, it is key to always keep the slime on the tray!
Create your slime creations
Once the slime is all nice and stretchy, set out your loose parts buffet. Make sure each kid has a plastic tray in front of them to make their creatures on.

Before the kids start making their slime creations it’s fun to talk about magic creatures. Or you might pair this activity with a book about monsters to get them inspired.

When we’ve done this activity, our kids usually suggest that magic creatures can have horns, multiple eyes, long legs, crazy curly hair and big mouths.
Add colored paper shapes
Now remind the kids that in addition to the loose parts, there is colored paper and scissors to make shapes and add to their creatures.

I loved watching their busy little hands, and their joy being able to use the slime as a “canvas” to create.

silly slime face — Photo by Catalina Gutierrez

I really hope you give this a try! I promise you it will be a fun way to experiment with slime in a different and creative way.

More Slime Activities for Kids

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big kids, Sensory Experience, tweens

Catalina Gutierrez

Catalina is the founder of Redviolet Studio, a mobile art experience for children. She is originally from Colombia but has been based in Miami for the past 10 years. Catalina teaches after school art classes for preschool and elementary kids and sensory art & play classes for toddlers. She is very interested in the Reggio Emilia approach to education where the children lead their own learning process with the teacher being more of a facilitator rather than a voice who shows them where to look and what to find. She loves crafting with her boys and a good process art session. Catalina also has an amazing art & play activity guide for purchase through her website that The Artful Team highly recommends!

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