Slime kits make excellent gifts, and kids absolutely love getting these simple slime-making kits that combine, crafts, science, and a lot of gooey fun!
Making slime at home is incredibly easy, and most recipes only require 2 or 3 ingredients. Still, there’s a lot of trial and error that goes with getting the ratio right.
There’s something magical about getting a kit instead of raw ingredients, especially when you’re a child.
Show up at a kid’s birthday party with a jug of school glue and a box of borax, and you’re sure to get a frown from the mom. You’ve just given her a chore.
Show up with a ready-made slime kit though, and you’re an absolute hero. The slime-making kit not only contains everything you need to make slime but it also contains all manner of mix-ins that make the whole process fun.
The slime itself may be fun for a while, but the craft of making slime with a variety of colors, textures, sparkles, and mix-ins is what makes for hours of entertainment.
Sure, you could troll through the craft aisle and pick up 20 different types of glitter, beads, fluff and what have you…but that’ll set you back a pretty penny.
Slime-making kits do all that work for you, combing everything in just the right proportions so that there aren’t buckets of supplies left over when the fun is through.
Best Slime Making Kits
I’ll take you through how slime-making kits work and review each of these kits in detail below, but I know many Pre-made just want to cut right to the chase.
We’ve purchased literally dozens of slime-making kits of every shape, size, and theme, and these are the very best slime-making kits available.
- Best Pre-made Slime Kit: Zen Laboratory Jumbo Slime Making Kit (with 18 premade slimes)
- Best DIY Slime Kit: Discovering DIY Slime
- Best Jumbo Slime Kit: Original Stationery Ultimate Slime Kit
- Best Elmer’s Slime Kit: Elmer’s Celebration Slime Kit (Makes 10 Unique Slimes)
- Best Science-Based Slime Kit: National Geographic Slime Lab
- Best Dinosaur Slime Kit: Dinosaur Slime Kit
- Best Unicorn Slime Kit: Original Stationery Unicorn Slime Kit
- Best Rainbow Slime Kit: Delux DIY Rainbow Slime Kit
- Best Ice Cream Slime Kit: Original Stationery Ice Cream Slime Kit
- Best Galaxy Slime Kit: Original Stationery Galaxy Slime Kit
- Best Glow in the Dark Slime Kit: Elmer’s Glow in the Dark Slime Kit
- Best Color Changing Slime Kit: Elmer’s Color Changing Slime Kit
- Best Fluffy Slime Kit: Elmers Fluffy Slime Kit
- Best Crunchy Slime Kit: Elmer’s Crunchy Slime Kit
- Best Butter Slime Kit: Elmer’s Butter Slime Kit
You can get most of these slime-making kits from amazon and they tend to have the best selection, especially for special interest slime kits (like archeology or unicorn slime kits). Walmart is also a great option and sometimes has more in stock around the major holidays.
They have the benefit of allowing you to order online for same-day in-store pickup, which can be handy if you’re literally running out the door at the last minute to a kids birthday party.
Not that that’s ever happened to me or anything…
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Types of Slime Making Kits
- Ready-Made Slime Kits – Already made slime, like melt and pour soap.
- Make your own slime kits – comes with ingredients, a bit more work, but allows the kids a bit of science as the slime forms right before their eyes.
Beyond the two main types, there are different textures, colors, and more, such as:
- Glitter Slime Kits
- Color Changing Slime Kits
- Butter Slime Kits
- Fluffy Slime Kits
Lastly, there are different themes, which really tailor the kits to the interests of individual children. There’s a slime making kit for just about every interest, including:
- Laboratory Slime Making Kits with beakers and vials
- Unicorn Slime Making kits with rainbow colors and sparkles
- Ice Cream Slime Kits with scoopers and more
What’s Included in a Slime Making Kit?
Obviously, the contents of a slime making kit will vary based on the kit, but in general, expect to find:
- Ingredients for making slime including glue and activator (or premade slime)
- Colors in the form of kid-safe paint or food coloring
- Glitter, beads, and other mix-ins
The type of slime ingredients is going to depend on the type of kit, and most will include a few different types of glue. Options like clear glue, glow in the dark, color changing and glitter glue are all popular options.
Most slime-making kits also include slime storage containers, which are a really convenient way to store slime between play sessions.
Sure, Ziploc bags work too…but there’s something special about these cute little plastic slime storage containers that makes a kid feel like they have a collection of treasures on display.
How to Use a Slime Making Kit
The basic premise behind slime is that it’s some type of non-toxic, kid-safe glue that’s “activated” with a borax solution, which transforms it into an endlessly fun mass of slime!
Most basic slime recipes start with about 4 to 6 ounces of glue, and then add in 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of activator depending on how concentrated the activator is to start with.
It’s important to follow the instructions in your particular slime-making kit, especially if the kit comes with more than one type of glue. Clear glue actually works differently than white glue when it comes to making slime, and I made the mistake of not reading the instructions.
This should have been a beautifully clear batch of slime, with sparkly unicorn-shaped glitter inside…but I didn’t follow the instructions. That’s a recipe for a disappointed kid, and a lot of wasted unicorn glitter.
Follow the instructions!
Using a slime-making kit is really quite simple, and there are usually only 1 or 2 steps, so it’s not a big deal to ready literally 2 sentences that explain how to make the best of your particular slime kit.
Also, be sure to read follow the safety and clean-up instructions. Slime is non-toxic, but that doesn’t mean you should eat it. Wash your hands before and after working with slime, and all the actual slime making with the chemicals should be handled by an adult. Let the kids play with the mix-ins, but chemicals, even relatively benign ones, should be handled by adults.
Best Slime Kits
A quick list of the best slime-making kits is above, but as promised, I’m going to take you through each one in detail.
I’ve chosen the slime-making kits that offer a lot of unique options to keep things interesting for the kids, but also offer great value to keep things affordable for the parents.
Individual reviews coming soon!
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