Planning a slime party is definitely worth the effort. While there is nothing new about them, slime parties have grown in popularity in recent years.
It’s a fun DIY project that kids can do at a party and leaves them with an unusual toy to play with after.
In this article, we’ve listed everything you need to know for planning and hosting a slime party for kids. If you’re looking for more general kids party planning tips, you can view our checklist for planning a kid’s party.
Planning a Slime Party
Hosting a Slime party requires a bit of planning ahead of time to make sure everyone has fun and to keep the place mess-free.
1. Finding a location
The good news is that you don’t need a lot of space for Slime Parties. If you have a large kitchen or dining room that might be enough. If it’s a nice sunny day, consider setting up the party outside.
In general, you want to avoid areas with carpets and furniture that has fabrics (such as chair linings). Make sure carpets, rugs & nice table clothes are out of harm’s way.
If you don’t have space at home, you can also book a kid’s venue for the day. The added bonus is that these venues will most likely have all the slime-making-equipment you need already on site.
2. Choosing the Guests
Every kid is different but Slime parties are most often done for kids between the age of 6 and 10. At that age, inviting between 5 and 10 guests is plenty. Especially as you’ll be doing manual activities.
If you want to invite a larger crowd, enroll the help of additional adults!
3. Set up a Craft Space
When it comes to crafting with kids, keeping things organised is key to keeping things clean.
You’re going to be mixing ingredients with kids… expect some mess. The good news is that slime is very easy to clean up as long as it’s on a hard surface. Simply set up a table with either an easy to wash table cloth or a disposable one.
For each guest, you’ll need to plan:
- A small receptacle like a bowl
- Stir sticks
- An apron (optional)
At the centre of the table, lay out different colours and glitter for the kids to choose from. Don’t overwhelm them with choices. 3 or 4 options for each is plenty.
4. Making the Slime
Slime is very easy to make. For a detailed overview of the process can view our article on how to make slime. Even though it’s simple, you still want to have adult supervision throughout the whole process.
Here is a basic recipe we usually recommend:
Ingredients for Slime:
- School Glue or White Glue – What you’re looking for is PVA glue. The most recommended brand for slime is Elmer’s glue which is mostly sold in the US but can be found in the UK and Ireland. However, any PVA school glue should work.
- Borax (or sodium tetraborate) – Depending on where you live, you can buy borax in the cleaning aisle of the supermarket or hardware stores. If you live in the UK or Ireland, it’s not impossible to find but it can be harder to find. You can always find it online or use a slime recipe that doesn’t use borax.
- Food colouring – Adding colour to the slime is optional but it’s recommended as it adds to the fun.
- Water
Making Slime Step by Step
- Start by adding 25 ml of glue inside a bowl and 50 ml of water and mix it with a stirring stick. If you’re making coloured slime, add 3 or 4 drops of food colouring and stir.
- Add 25 grammes of borax to the bowl and mix slowly. The slime will start to form immediately. Keep stirring as much as you can.
- Once the slime is hard to stir and pulls away from the side of the bowl, take it out and knead it with your hands. Expect to leave some water behind in the bowl!
- Keep kneading the slime until you’re happy with the texture.
If you have a younger crowd, get an adult to pour the ingredients in and get the kids to do the mixing. Then they can add food coloring and glitter to the mix.
In addition, while Slime is almost universally safe, if you have a kid with skin allergies, you need to be careful.
Pro-tip: Ahead of the party, test out the slime recipe you want to use. This gives you the opportunity to adjust it (if needed) until you get the optimal result.
5. Playing With the Slime
Once the Slime is made let the kids play with it for a while; touching and feeling the substance is half the fun (again – stay away from the carpets).
To keep things fun, you’re going to need to establish a few rules:
- Don’t touch the slime with anything but your hands.
- Don’t let them play with the food colouring and glitter once the slime making is done
- Establish a definite “slime-free zone” where the kids aren’t allowed to go… Especially if you’ve made coloured slime.
Depending on the group, the playtime will last between 10 and 20 minutes. However, if you plan a specific Slime game (tallest stretch, longest stick time…) it might take a bit more time.
Pro-tip: If you’re planning on using the craft space for food, use the playtime to clean the table and prepare it for the birthday cake.
6. Cake & Presents
After the children have finished playing with the Slime, it’s time to kick off the cake and the presents. You can view some general party planning tips in our kid’s party checklist.
If you’re also planning a full meal for the kids, you can find some neat kid’s party food ideas here.
7. Filling the Party Bags
If you’re putting together party bags, you can find some neat ideas in our article about what to put inside a kid’s party bag.
You’ll see that in the article we don’t recommend that you put slime inside. It’s just a bad surprise for the parents if the kids bring home Slime and stain the carpets.
However, as you’re hosting a slime party there is no way around. Try to find a small slime container that seals for each guest to take away. Otherwise, have them place the slime in a disposable plastic cup.
It’s also worth letting the other parents know that there is slime inside the party bag; both to store it properly and to avoid any disasters at home.
If you’re based in Ireland, at PartyWizz, to make things convenient for parents, we sell themed party bags that come pre-filled with goodies.
8. Storing Slime After the Party
After the party, or once the kids have finished playing with it, store the Slime in a sealed container and place it in the fridge. It will make it last longer.
From our experience, Slime doesn’t have a long shelf life. Especially homemade Slime. After a few days, you’ll most likely need to throw it away.
Contrary to a lot of viral claims, Slime isn’t great for cleaning… Even if you make the perfect recipe, it gets dirty quickly and you’ll most likely loose pieces as you go.
Enjoy it while it lasts and dispose of it afterward.
Additional Considerations for a Slime Party
If you’re planning on hosting a full-on Slime party, consider hiring an art and craft entertainer for the occasion.
They will know exactly how to make slime, how to keep the kids happy and the parents stress-free and to keep the party mess-free.
If you’re based in Ireland, you can book an arts and crafts’ entertainers directly through PartyWizz.
