I have the book ‘Toddler Tactics’ by Pinky McKay. In it she gives some ideas of activities for toddlers and preschool children, and ages ago I was inspired by the idea of making slime. To make it I needed Lux Flakes, and it took me ages to find any since none of the supermarkets I frequented at the time seemed to stock it. We are probably almost a year on now and I finally got around to trying it out.
The recipe for slime is 1 cup of Lux Flakes and 3 cups of warm water. I didn’t put any coloring into it. I used hot water from the kettle and stirred the soap until it seemed to be dissolved (in the book it says to stir vigorously) and then leave overnight to set. This morning there was a soft but solid white substance at the bottom of the bucket I made it in.
The book states that the slime is a soothing treat best enjoyed outdoors. It also says: a wonderful gooey, tactile experience, forgo artistic aspirations and plonked the slime into the baby bath, add funnels and cups, and let your toddler pour, squeeze and squelch the ooze. What she neglected to instruct was how to clean up what is basically thick liquid soap that is as slimy as anything you could possibly imagine. I didn’t really want to add so much soap to the grass in the back yard by hosing it off the child and out of the shell we put it in, but it was difficult to find another solution. I ended up mixing it with water and bucketing it down the drain. Toby also missed out because he was asleep, but Nathan had a ball in the slimy ooze, painting it all over himself, sliding around the shell and alternating between the shell half with the slime and the other half into which I put some water.
