Colour-Match Glitter Flubber

Flubber is just about the most fun thing to squish and squash and play around with. While it doesn't go well with Elmo fur (we learned this the hard way - it DID come out eventually), it's great to play with on a counter-top.

There are lots of slime and flubber recipes out there, but due to the hesitation that some people have with using borax (commonly called for in these recipes), we opted to create a version of the recipe created by Asia over at Fun at Home with Kids, which uses laundry detergent. If liquid starch is available in your area, you can also find recipes that use that instead. 

It's important to note that you have to use a very particular kind of laundry detergent, and in many cases, this can be very expensive. You use very little of it in the recipe, and the rest can be used for your actual laundry. However, use your own discretion and decide what feels right for your family in terms of what kind of recipe you use. 

On a rainy afternoon, we whipped up a batch of this stuff in three different colours so we could work on colour recognition as well. It was a blast.

You'll Need:

• scent-and-colour-free laundry detergent that contains boric acid, such as Seventh Generation Free and Clear (2x or 4x concentrated - learn more here)
• glitter
• two bottles of Elmer's clear school glue
• food colouring

Instructions:

1. Empty your two bottles of clear glue into a big bowl. 

2. Slowly add detergent about a tablespoon at a time, and mix after each addition. Once the flubber starts to solidify and comes away easily from the walls of your bowl, you're almost done. Just add a little bit more to make it more "flubbery" and less "slimey". The more detergent you add, the stiffer it will become.

3. Separate the flubber into three smaller bowls and knead in food colouring and glitter until you reach the desired colour. And even if it looks like it's not going to work, just keep kneading in the food colouring, and it will eventually get sopped up by the flubber. Warning: This step can be MESSY! Use disposable plastic gloves if you'd rather not end up with rainbow hands.

4. Set out the flubber with matching coloured beads or plastic jewels (we found ours at the dollar store). Play time!

 

Note that this flubber is going to absolutely stick to itself as soon as it touches. This is a lot of fun in and of itself, and  you can play around with colour blending too. 

We incorporated a few Canadian-flag toothpicks because why not?

There are absolutely no rules when it comes to glitter flubber! Have fun.