Mixing slime with outdoor play: how to dye it with berries
The joke growing up was that my brother didn’t know how to climb a tree until we moved into a house with a mulberry tree. And there we found him, 15 feet off the ground munching on plump, delicious mulberries.
I remember every summer our sidewalks, our cars, and our windshields would be stained a purple-ish color because of an abundance of berries. So when we discovered a small purple mulberry tree in our backyard, it was the perfect opportunity to make a naturally dyed slime with berries!
How to make slime dyed with berries
The easiest way to make squishy, fail-proof slime is by using typical Elmer’s glue, liquid starch, and some water.
Mix together 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of white PVC glue until it is smooth. Then slowly add 1/4 cup of liquid starch. It will almost instantly start clotting into a mashable, smashable slime.
Related: How to spark a love of the outdoors: nature scavenger hunt slime
Once it’s pliable and stretchy, you can knead in some berries. We personally chose mulberries because we have purple mulberry trees in our neighborhood and it encouraged out kids to get outside and into nature to make their slime.
Want more ideas to get your family more engaged in nature and your kids outside more? Learn about our free online workshop.
But to help kids learn even more from making berry dyed slime, you can pick up an assortment of fruit at your local produce section.
“What do you think will happen if we mix raspberry and blueberry together?”
“How do you think the color of the slime will change if we add blackberry to the white slime?”
“If you mix white berries into white PVC slime, will it change colors?”
We even added more white glue to Jenn’s ball of slime to see exactly how it would change both the consistency and the color of her naturally dyed slime.
Related: Using Berries for Finger Paints
What happened is that it got less viscous and started moving and dripping a lot more quickly… which became a fun game of “dont’ drop the slime.” And then a not so fun game of “mom, help me!!!!!” 🤣
Get outdoor family adventure & nature activity ideas for kids
My friend Thena and I run an online workshop to help families of all backgrounds and outdoor experience levels find fun, new ways to explore the great outdoors. It’s completely free and fun for the whole family! Simple choose an option below and enter your email address to be a part of our “Families Back to Nature” training.
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Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 6 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!
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