‘Tis the season for candy canes! There are many fun candy cane activities you can incorporate into a candy cane theme into your classroom. Today, I’m sharing with you an easy sensory play recipe for candy cane slime! This type of play encourages children to use their sense of touch and smell.
Sensory play is an important component of any preschool day. This enhances hands-on learning through while also stimulating the child’s senses.
Making Candy Cane Slime
For candy cane slime, you’ll make two colors of slime. The ingredients below are for one color. Make sure to use white glue for the color white and clear glue for the red color.
- 1/2 cup Elmer’s glue
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup liquid starch, such as Sta-Flo
- red gel food coloring
- few drops of peppermint extract
- bowl
- spoon
You’ll want to follow the directions below carefully. If the directions aren’t followed carefully, even slight changes can affect the outcome.
White Color: Mix 1/2 cup white glue with 1/2 cup warm water in a bowl. Add a few drops of peppermint extract. Make sure to mix it well! Slowly pour in the 1/2 cup of liquid starch while stirring. Continue to stir until the slime is formed.
Red Color: Mix 1/2 cup clear glue with 1/2 cup warm water in a bowl. Drop in red gel food coloring and mix. Slowly pour in the 1/2 cup of liquid starch while stirring. Continue to stir until the slime is formed.
If the slime seems a bit sticky, add just a little bit of liquid starch to the slime. Don’t add too much or the slime will be too slippery! I also like to let the slime sit for about 5 minutes before playing with it.
Exploring Candy Cane Slime
After you have both colors, you can play with them individually, or you can twist the slimes together to make them look like a candy cane!
Kids will have fun feeling and smelling the slime. Slime is unique because it’s slippery and slimy, yet addicting to play with!
It’s very neat that the two colors stay separated! Makes it really look like a candy cane!
My kids love playing with slime and this was one of their favorites because it smelled like peppermint!
After you’re done playing, store the slime in an airtight container. It will last for about a week. Hope you’ll try this activity out this holiday season!
BIO: Angela is the writer and creator at Teaching Mama, where she shares hands-on learning activities for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. She is a former teacher, turned stay-at-home-mom to 3 wonderful boys. Angela loves to create recipes for slime, and you can check out her other slime recipes here. You can connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.
