Sight Words Slime – Saline Slime Sensory Literacy Activity

Ever since we discovered our saline slime recipe (it’s so easy!), we’ve been having fun. It’s like a whole new world of slime exploration and learning has opened up to us. Slime has made it so much easier to incorporate hands-on learning, sensory exploration and traditional lessons like sight words. So this week, to help my youngest son practice his sight words, we made Sight Words Slime.

Sight Words Slime - Saline Slime Sensory Literacy Activity

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For our Sight Words Slime activity I used a variation on our favourite, super stretchy, borax/laundry soap/liquid starch free recipe. Although you can make the basic saline slime recipe with just 3 ingredients, we spiced things up a bit this time to experiment and make it more fun.

Ingredients Sight Words Slime (Saline Slime)

Click on the images of the product below for more information on any of the ingredients.

Elmer’s Clear Glue 40z bottle
Elmer’s Sparkle Glue – optional
Baking Soda
Food Dye – optional
Buffered Saline Solution
Letter Beads

      

Sight Words Saline Slime Recipe For Kids

Add your clear glue to a bowl, then mix in about a tablespoon of sparkle glue. Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Mix very well with a spoon. Add a couple of drops of food dye if you wish, mix well.

Now the magic happens, add a squirt of buffered saline solution, mix well with the spoon.


NOTE: It is very important that you purchase “buffered saline”. From talking to readers buffered saline is available pretty much everywhere. If you are having a hard time finding it (it’s in the eye care aisle here), ask your pharmacist.

*Depending on where you live your buffered saline may list boric acid or sodium borate in the ingredients. I was able to find a buffered saline solution that did not include either of these ingredients on the list. As with any activity, if you have concerns or worries about any specific ingredients, do your own research and learn more about your locally available variations.


Add a few more drops of saline and mix well. It will start to become stringy and pull away from the sides.

Continue mixing, adding a drop or two if needed of the saline until it pulls together. I found the clear/glitter combination required a bit more saline than our white glue recipe. But don’t over do the saline or your slime won’t be stretchy!!!

Once it starts to pull together remove it from the bowl and start kneading and working it with your hands. It will be sticky at first but continue working it. This can be a great hand strengthening activity. If it is still really sticky after a few minutes of working it, add a drop or two of saline to your hands and continue working it.

Remember, less saline results in a stretchier slime. Our slime stretches up to 40 feet without breaking! So spend extra time working in a smaller amount to get the best results.

Once it is finished it will no longer be sticky, but will be super stretchy!

Now fold in your letter beads. Even though it’s not sticky, it does a fantastic job holding the beads. I focused on -AT words to keep things a little more simple for my son, but after a few minutes he started demanding that I add more letters so he could make other words.

Using Sight Words Slime

This is a great activity for busy kids who are learning their sight words. Ensure the letters for words they are learning are included in your slime. Either verbally ask the child to spell the words or provide cards with the words so they can search for the letters in the slime. My kids also loved just playing and looking for words that naturally formed as they played.

This activity not only practices sight words, but it is also great sensory and fine motor work.

Oh, and if you have a kid that loves popping bubble wrap, this recipe for slime loves to form bubbles that they can pop.

Happy playing and learning with Sight Words Slime! 

Sight Words Slime - Saline Slime Sensory Literacy Activity

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