Magnetic Slime Package Design

I know the spinners are currently driving us all crazy. . . But, has the slime craze died down? I’m still riding the wave. . .And, honestly, my preference is for slime ahead of spinners.

I was researching some possible arts integration entry points for a science unit on magnets when I thought about combining slime with magnets. I wondered if anyone had already made magnetic slime (yes, yes they had!), and I wondered about their recipes. There are LOTS of magnetic slime recipes out there; truthfully, most of them are waay too step-heavy, adult-heavy, and/or expensive for a teacher to try in a classroom. I know, I tried them all for you. I ended up making my own magnetic slime recipe by combining a few different recipes for both magnetic and plain slimes. Heavy in my consideration was cost, ease of the recipe, and safety/classroom management for kiddos. Part of what I love about this slime recipe is that it uses iron oxide to make the slime magnetic. Iron oxide is the pigment often used to make black, brown, and even green paints and pastels!

Here is my slime recipe:

Ultimately, I made a lesson out of it! Wheeee! Here is my Magnetic Slime Package Design lesson. I wrote it with third graders in mind, but there is no reason to not include older students by tweaking the lesson as needed.

1. Define the 3 types of magnets
2. Hypothesize what is / is not a magnet. Provide a pre-set list of items for students to try. Include in this list a small bag of iron oxide (link to purchase here).