THE PERILS OF SLIME AND DIY BOUNCY BALLS!

I’ll start with a disclaimer. This just may be my last kid DIY post wherein Borax is on the ingredient list. R just adores generating goopy substances with her own little hands — truly, what kid doesn’t? And so far Borax hasn’t been an issue for us. R knows not to put her slime hands in her mouth and washes them often when we’re in project mode (she DOES NOT care for washing her hands during other daily activities, however). Aaaanyway, Mr. T just forwarded me an article from the NY Post about an avid slime-making little girl who suffered severe burns on her hands, presumably from her frequent handling of Borax. It hasn’t been determined if Borax is surely to blame for the girl’s ailments, but apparently a doctor pointed to the laundry-room staple as the probable culprit. Evidently, the girl is healing and is going to be just fine. But I may as well eliminate an unnecessary risk factor from our repertoire, especially with a newly-turned one-year-old who doesn’t discriminate between what objects she slyly shoves into her mouth. With all that said, who’s ready to learn how to make bouncy balls?! With Borax?! In all seriousness, this is a pretty awesome project. Just maybe use disposable gloves, wash hands after making it, and reserve this activity for your 4+ kiddo.

What You Need:

1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp Borax
1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp white glue
Food coloring
Disposable plastic gloves?

Mix warm water and Borax in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix corn starch, glue and food coloring (choose your color and saturation). Yeah, we made a mess — I let R pour everything.
Pour glue/starch mixture into water/Borax mixture and stir.
The compound will goop together after a few seconds of mixing, and excess water will remain. With your hands (gloved, if you like!), continue mixing the goop.
Continue working the mixture in your hands, forming it into a ball for a couple minutes.
Repeat in different colors if you like! We made a batch of yellow, too. And voila, you’ve got your own hand-made balls! They’re not huge jumpers, but they do bounce!