How to Make Honey Slime

Making homemade slime is an entertaining activity for older kids (and some adults). For young folks, a benefit of bee related crafts is the opportunity to learn more about the importance of honey bees.  This easy recipe for honey slime is a fun way to bring the lore of bees into your home.

Benefits of Making Homemade Slime

There are many recipes for making slime but I will use one of the most common. Water, glue and borax when mixed together in the right proportions create a fun little science experiment.

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Sometimes, we may think that the kids like it because it can be messy.  Perhaps there is some truth in that – but there is more going on here than you may think.

Working slime with your hands creates a calming feeling.  This type of sensory play is often lacking for older kids.  A messy tactile experience may be just the thing they need to explore and refocus.

Honey slime is a science project.  It is a basic chemistry experiment where combining 2 different things together results in a reaction that changed their molecular structure.

Materials

• clear glue
• borax (just a little)
• water
• embellishments

Basics

Begin with a small bottle of clear glue. The common clear school glue is fine – there is no need to spend a lot of money.

Borax can be purchased from supply stores but you may already have some in your washroom. It can be found in the laundry section of most stores. I use it as a laundry detergent booster for a really dirty load of jeans.

Plain tap water is the last ingredient of the basic recipe for honey slime. We need some that is warm and some that is room temperature.

Embellishments

You “could” put some actual honey in this slime – but I think it is messy enough on its own. Also, there is no real reason to add real honey.

Instead, let’s use some yellow and brown gel food coloring to tint our project to a respectable honey color.

For fun and sparkle, let’s add some gold (extra fine) glitter and some small pieces (plastic or resin). Of course, these are optional and you certainly can omit them if you wish.

Getting Prepared

A slime recipe is not carved in stone. Ingredient amounts may need to vary a bit due to temperature and humidity. This recipe make a firmer slime that is not too runny.

Let your kids experiment and use problem solving skills to decide exactly how much glue or water/borax they need to get just the perfect consistency that they wish.

Honey slime can be messy.  Prepare for some spills and drips ahead of time. Don’t let the young ones wear their best clothes when creating slime masterpieces. 

This is a time for play clothes – plastic table cloths and maybe even a drop cloth on the floor.   The cleaner of choice for most slime spills seems to be white vinegar.

Is Slime Dangerous?

No, you should not be worried about children playing with your homemade slime.  It is not edible – so keep that in mind when deciding which ages is most appropriate for this project.

School glue is a rather benign product and borax is not dangerous when used in the proper proportions.  If your child has sensitive skin – monitor them at first.  And, look for any signs of redness after a short play time. 

Use and Storage

Slime is a non-Newtonian fluid and pressure affects how it moves.  Unlike playdough that responds to gentle slow squeezing – slime moves best with quicker movements.  Handle it quickly with faster finger motions.

Be sure to store your homemade slime in an airtight container a lid. It should last several weeks – especially with borax as an ingredient. If you notice any mold – it’s time to make a new batch.

Playtime is a great opportunity to talk about how bees make honey. They use nectar not pollen as many people think.

Also, as the color of your slime varies depending on the food coloring that you use – the color of honey varies a lot to. This depends on which flowers bees collect nectar from.

And, although honey bees do store honey for Winter. When we think about the things bees eat – there is more variety in their diet than you might think.

If this project has really got you buzzing to try more bee crafts, you have a lot of different projects to consider.

Some top considerations – make a tin bee for the garden, recycle some old golf balls into cute bees or create a bee candy jar using clay pots! A more traditional craft, learn how to make a bee with craft sticks and pipe cleaners.

While this project is not edible, there is no harm in having a few homemade honey sticks on hand. The kids deserve a sweet treat from the hive after all this hard work.