There has been a fascination with some tiny creatures in the Pre-Kindy class at Green Leaves Early Learning Robina. After discovering a caterpillar in their outdoor environment, the children have taken an interest in learning about bugs. To explore their interests, the children have immersed themselves in books and activities about these creatures. There was plenty of discussion about how bugs hide, what a lifecycle entails, what types of bugs are attracted to light, and more.

As a fun activity, the children practiced their fine motor skills by picking up replica bugs using a pair of tongs. To make the activity more interesting and challenging, the children had to ‘rescue’ the bugs from a pool of sticky icky slime! This involved some manipulation as the children attempted to pull the little critters out of the slime!

We would love for you to try this activity at home! Here’s our recipe for some simple slime.

What you need:

½ cup of PVA clear glue
½ teaspoon of baking soda
2 drops of food colouring
1 tablespoon of contact lens solution or saline (must contain boric acid and sodium borate)
Baby oil
Spoon, bowl, and measuring cups

Method:

1. Mix the PVA glue and ½ teaspoon of baking soda.
2. Add food colouring of your choice to the mixture and mix well.
3. This is the part which ‘activates’ the slime. Mix in 1 tablespoon of the contact lens solution or saline.
4. Add a few drops of baby oil to prevent the mixture from being too sticky. The oil also makes the slime shinier.
5. Once the ingredients are combined, you have slime! You can now set-up your bug rescue challenge.