Christmas Science Experiment: Candy Cane Slime!

Who loves festive holiday science experiments like slime made from ingredients in your cupboards? We do!! When I grabbed supplies for our Christmas Science in the Park, I grabbed things that mae for simple science projects...like this fantastic slime that only needs three ingredients!!

My preschoolers right now are all sensory seekers, and they love any ooey, gooey activity that they get to touch and manipulate. Slimes have been really popular around here during the last few months.

There are lots of different kinds of slime--we've used psyllium, borax, and cornstarch so far. They each have advantages and disadvantages.

For our candy cane slime, we used a simple non-Newtonian liquid...but I'll sum up the science in a moment!

To make your own candy cane slime, you just need cornstarch, water, and candy canes!

Since we were at a park I didn't even measure the ingredients...this recipe is that simple!  

Here's the easy How To:

1- Break up your candy canes. We used about four. This is awesome fine motor exercise!

2- Dump some cornstarch in a pan and add your candy cane pieces. We used about a cup of cornstarch.

See that little sensory-seeking hand?! It just cannot resist all that nice, white, powdery cornstarch!

3- Add about an equal amount of water as cornstarch. Usually you'll end up needing a little more water than cornstarch. Since we weren't measuring, we just poured in about the same amount of water and cornstarch and the kids mixed it up.

It didn't flow quite as quickly as we wanted our slime to behave, so we added a little more water. Soon it was perfect!

The red stripes on the candy canes quickly dissolved off and changed the color of the slime...it started out white, then it had red stripes, and then it turned pink!

So here's the science: cornstarch has long chains of molecules that link together and slide past each other when they are wet. The fun part is that when you put shear force on them (by doing things like squeezing the slime, balling it up, rolling it, etc.), they harden and hold their shape. When you let the slime relax, the molecules slide right past each other and ooze between your fingers, down your hand, and anywhere else you let it!

We like to make this same kind of slime in the spring during Dr. Seuss week--we color it green, call it oobleck, and read Bartholomew and the Oobleck to go with the slime!

This is probably the most simple slime we make...and it is still just as popular as the more complicated ones! I also love how easy it is to clean up!!

If you like candy cane science, be sure to check out our first candy cane experiment, bending candy canes, and the candy cane construction bridge (where I introduced our Christmas Science in the Park) challenge!

If fun and easy Christmas science is your thing, you will love my ebook: 25 Christmas Science Projects for Kids! It is the perfect way to add a little science into your holiday schedule!

And if you like slimes, take a peek at our edible spider slime, clear ghost slime, brown bear slime, and sparkly pink slime!

And be sure to keep coming back this week for more Christmas science experiment fun with candy canes and preschoolers! They're incredibly fun science projects that keep kids interested in science.

Happy Educating,

Carla

Have you seen HEEP? It is a preschool homeschool curriculum! Learn more here!

I may share at any of these parties!

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