ALL ABOARD: WE’RE GATHERING STEAM

Source: thebestideasforkids.com

Make some glow-in-the-dark slime with today’s STEAM activity!

Materials

• 6 ounces or 3/4 cup of Elmer’s glow-in-the-dark glue
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 tablespoons contact lens solution – Renu Fresh brand recommended

Directions

• Get a bowl to mix your slime ingredients in.
• Add the Elmer’s glow-in-the-dark glue to the bowl, then add your 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and mix in thoroughly. If you want, you can add up to 1/4 cup of water to make a stretchier slime.
• Slowly add in your contact lens solution. (Reminder: your contact lens solution should contain boric acid or your slime will not form). Add it in slowly and mix if possible so that you can adjust and ensure you do not add too much. Knead and mix thoroughly before adding more as you do not want to add too much or your slime will get too hard.
• Take the slime out of the bowl and knead, knead, knead. You may be surprised how much you need to knead to really make the slime form. It will be very sticky at this point, especially if you added water. Keep kneading and stretching the slime and it will become less sticky. If it’s not the desirable consistency, keep kneading. Only add a little more contact solution – a teaspoon at a time – to prevent the slime from becoming too hard.

Spark Creative Learning!

For something to glow in the dark, it requires chemicals that store energy when exposed to light. These substances are called phosphors which radiate light after being “energized” or exposed to light. Once you expose them to light, they slowly release this energy in small amounts of light which causes the objects to glow in the dark.

It’s easy to make this slime glow again and again – you only need to let it sit in the light for 2 minutes before it will glow. Once it loses its glowing effect, just bring it back into the light again to “recharge.” Putting it out in the sunlight works best, but if you have strong indoor lights they will work too.