Slime!

I thought it was time to post a fun little project you can do at home: homemade slime!

I recommend that you do this in a large bowl in the sink, or else pretty much tarp an entire room.

Put a lot of corn starch in a bowl.  Add water a little at a time, mixing with your hands, until it feels right.  It is done when you try to pull your hand out fast and get clumps, but pull your hand out slowly and it runs.  Add a few drops of food coloring and let the kids go to town.

I suggest you strip your kids down at least to the waist, maybe more if they’re under age 4 and prone to fingerpainting.

There are recipes online for slime using Borax.  I think that for kids under age 5 or 6, you should just do the corn starch one, especially if they try to eat science experiments.  With the safe slime, all that will happen is they will think it’s yucky and maybe get a green mouth.

Enjoy!

Clove Apples: A Very Bad Idea

This being Apple Week at our homeschooling house, we have done several fun activities.  We picked apples, we made apple pie, we even had a special lunch.  This included turning broccoli into apple trees using M&Ms for apples.  It’s been lots of fun.

The one activity that didn’t go so well was the clove apples.  For the record, I don’t recommend anyone try this craft a) outside a Girl Scout meeting or b) with kids under age 7.

First of all, it requires enough whole cloves to choke a chipmunk.  I had no idea that cloves were so expensive.  We opted to make one very small apple together so that I could still afford to send my kids to college.

Second, it’s really boring.  After putting in one clove, both my kids were off doing other things.  I couldn’t blame them.  The excitement of doing something new wears off once you realize that you have to keep doing the same repetitive task.  The kids would periodically check back in with me, stick in another clove or two, and say, “Are you still making a clove apple, Mama?”  It took about 45 minutes to complete the project.

I don’t feel too bad, though.  After all, how will I ever find the good stuff if I don’t take a few risks?

Time to go read with the kids, maybe some apple books from the library.