How to Make Slime and Understand States of Matter

SciShow Kids

This engaging episode of SciShow Kids guides young learners through the popular hands-on experiment of making slime, transforming simple household ingredients into a fun scientific investigation. Hosted by Jessi and her robot friend Squeaks, the video provides a clear, step-by-step tutorial on combining school glue, baking soda, and contact solution to create the stretchy substance. Beyond just a recipe, the video emphasizes safety and the importance of specific chemical components like boric acid in the activation process. The content delves into introductory chemistry and physics concepts, specifically focusing on states of matter and molecular structures. Through clear animations, the video illustrates how glue molecules act like long chains that slide past one another in liquid form, but become "tangled" when the activating ingredients are added. This visual analogy helps students grasp the complex concept of polymerization and cross-linking in an age-appropriate way. For educators, this video serves as an excellent anchor for lessons on matter, chemical reactions, and procedural writing. It connects abstract ideas about molecules to a tangible product students can touch and manipulate. The video encourages scientific inquiry by asking students to predict changes, observe physical properties (viscosity, stickiness), and compare the slime's behavior to both solids and liquids, making it a perfect launchpad for a STEM lab activity.