Our School-Age group 2 children made slime for a science activity as well as incorporating the Halloween season. First, Wyatt measured the glue by using a measuring cup. Avery then took the same cup and measured one cup of water. The children then took turns stirring the mixture when Sam commented, “Well it just looks like watery glue.” Then Wyatt responded, “Well we have to add more stuff to it.” Will T. added the baking soda by using a tablespoon. Will B. measured three cups of shaving cream and said, “This is the thing that will make it fluffy.” The children decided to use green food colouring because they wanted to create green monster slime. As the ingredients were mixed together Amanda commented, “I think we need the activator to make the mixture into slime.” Wyatt then replied, “Oh I know, we can use contact lens solution for the activator. I remember that is what we used in summer camp when we made slime.” The contact lens solution was then added and the children watched as the magic happened right in front of them. The children were able to experience the chemical reaction of the glue, baking soda, shaving cream and contact lens solution.
As Lucy started to stir the mixture she said, “Oh it is getting stiff and hard to stir.” She then scooped and stretched some of the mixture when Will T. yelled, “Guys it is slime look how stretchy it is.” The children were given the slime to play with when Ella said, “This slime is fluffy and a bit sticky.” Lucy then added, “Well I think the shaving cream makes it fluffy, that is why we called it fluffy slime.” As the children continued playing with the fluffy slime, they commented on what will happen if they did not add any shaving cream to the slime. We then decided to test out their theory and make a batch of slime with no shaving cream. The children explored both slimes and made comparisons. Thomas discovered that the slime with the shaving cream is softer and stretches farther. Avery said, “The slime with the shaving cream is stickier.” Amanda made her discovery and said, “I like the one without the shaving cream because it doesn’t break easily when you stretch it.” As the comparison continued,S most of the children preferred the slime without the shaving cream. We then did some critical thinking and made some predictions about what will happen to both batches of slimes when they were left for the next day. Lucy said, “The fluffy slime will still be fluffy.” Avery predicted that the fluffy slime will be stickier and Amanda thought that the slime without the shaving cream will still stay stretchy. The next day came and the children were anxious to see what was the outcome of their predictions. The children took a piece of both kind of slime and revealed their discoveries. They discovered that the slime with the shaving cream was not as fluffy or as sticky anymore whereas, the one without the shaving cream was a bit wet, cold and not as stretchy as the day before. They children came to the conclusion that they preferred playing with the fluffy slime that was made with the shaving cream because they can stretch it more and even make bigger and better bubbles even when they used straws.
