How to make Monster Slime & “I Love You Stinky Face”

/ #BullyFreeReadtoMe, Bookish Play, Sensory Storytime
I Love You Stinky Face book & Monster Slime

A Heartfelt Book & Unintentional Monster Slime!

After reading Lisa McCourt’s “I Love You, Stinky Face” we thought making slime would be the perfect fit. You might be wondering why I used the word “unintentional” then? Let me explain…

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Summary of “I Love You, Stinky Face”

I Love You Stinky Face Book & Monster slime

“I Love You Stinky Face” written by Lisa McCourt and illustrated by Cyd Moore is a heartfelt book. It is about a young child questioning in very imaginative ways how much his mother loves him. For example, “But Mama, but Mama, what if I were a swamp creature with slimy, smelly seaweed hanging from my body?”. His mother responds just as creatively, “Then I would live by the swamp and take care of you always. I’d tell you, ‘I love you, my slimy swamp monster!'”. It is an adorable story with a sweet message of how a mother’s love is unconditional.

Monster Slime?

You might be wondering… “What do you do with it?” or “How is this not just going to be a sensory mess?” There are many ways to answer these two common questions…

First, the most basic answer to “What you could do with Monster Slime?” is… have Messy Fun. Sensory play at its finest is not about “doing” something specific. It is about exploring, feeling, listening, watching, problem solving, creating, etc… This is an open-ended activity. Just as each child has their own unique personality, experience, and preference in play, the outcome of this activity is just as special.

Monster slime falling into I Love You Stinky Face Book

As for the second question, Yes, this is a messy one! But, I hear you. I’ve been asked that question many times. Therefore, a detailed answer, along with strategies for successful messy sensory play, can be found by reading, “What about the Sensory Mess?”

What We Did with the Monster Slime…

Okay, so here’s the unintentional part of the story lol. We had tried to make colorful beans using a new type of food coloring that was a gel. Even though I’d heard good things, as far as on beans…it did not work. 🙁 It made them colorful but oh so sticky; and even after a couple of days, they were still sticky.

Colored beans in water + glue mixture

So of course I thought, it won’t matter if they’re sticky if we add them to slime, the color will shine through and it will be an awesome texture right? Well, not quite. We’ve made slime many times before. My daughter began pouring the clear glue in a bowl, added some water to it and mixed. Then came the colorful, sticky beans. However, once they fell into the bowl of water + glue mixture; they instantly began bleeding the colors and things turned very murky very quickly. 😮

Murky Monster slime mixture

Not to worry, we definitely roll with the punches around here ( you kind of have to with kids am I right?). We make a lot of mistakes; but choose to look at them as learning opportunities instead of failures. As a recovering perfectionist; I’ve come a long way and I feel its so important to help your kids not be scared of making mistakes and to not let it crush their self esteem. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone is learning, even grown ups, even parents. Modeling this attitude when things turn unexpectedly murky is important.

Monster Slime Hugging I Love You Stinky Face book

So, I decided to take it as a lesson learned and an unintentional bonus as it instantly reminded me of one of our favorite books, “I Love You Stinky Face” that we had just recently read. So although we weren’t trying to make monster slime; thats what we made. So, we added some googly eyes and it was ready to play with! My daughter and I enjoyed the texture of the bumpy beans intertwined with the stretchy slime and it definitely looked monsterous! Kneading, stretching, squishing, rolling, plucking beans out from it, pushing the beans back into it, etc… Lots of fun. Do you like slime?

Materials We Used

How to Make Monster Slime?

Liquid Starch Slime Recipe

  1. Measure and pour 1/2 cup (4oz) of glue (Elmer’s works best) into a medium bowl.
  2. Measure and pour 1/4 cup (2oz) of water into the same bowl as the glue.
  3. Mix thoroughly.
  4. Add food color (if you’re going for monster slime I’d probably add a drop or two of red, blue and green. (But this is the fun experimenting part, so choose whatever you like).
  5. Add a handful of beans (we used dry navy beans).
  6. Add a handful of googly eyes.
  7. Mix together.
  8. Add 1/8 – 1/4 cup (1oz – 2oz) of liquid starch a little at a time.
  9. Mix until it starts to coagulate and become slime.
  10. Knead it until it feels like slime.
    Note:
    If its still sticky add a bit more liquid starch (less is more).
    Add the liquid starch a little bit at a time, kneading it in between.
    If its sticky, add a tiny bit more, until its stretchy but not sticky.
    Be patient, I’ve been making this for over a decade and still can’t say I’ve got it down pat.
    If its too firm add less liquid starch next time, you could try adding a tiny bit of glue and/or water and keep kneading.

Baking Soda & Contact Lens Solution Slime Recipe (easier for beginners)

  1. Measure and pour 1/2 cup (4oz) of glue (Elmer’s works best) into a medium bowl.
  2. Measure and add 1 Tsp (teaspoon) of Baking Soda.
  3. Mix thoroughly.
  4. Add food color (if you’re going for monster slime I’d probably add a drop or two of red, blue and green. (But this is the fun experimenting part, so choose whatever you like).
  5. Add a handful of beans (we used dry navy beans).
  6. Mix together.
  7. Add 1 Tbsp (Tablespoon) of contact lens solution.
  8. Mix until it starts to coagulate and become slime.
  9. Knead it until it feels like slime (which usually happens instantly with this recipe).
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Wait, There’s More…

Sample of “Communicating & Connecting FREE Bonus Printable.

I believe you can easily strengthen communication skills and foster independence all while playing and connecting with your child. To help you do this; I’ve created a FREE printable for each activity called, “Communicating & Connecting”.

It will give you a list of suggestions I’ve found very helpful as a Mom & as a special education teacher; to help you build lifelong skills. Please don’t feel obligated to do everything on the list (but if you do, you’re a rockstar 😉 ).

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