If you are around kids at all, you're likely familiar with the slime craze. And if you live with kids who are into DIY crafts or who simply love to experiment, you're undoubtedly well acquainted with DIY slime and all of its variations.

To those less familiar, and for those who think slime is the stuff of Nickelodeon game shows from the 90s or what goops the Ghostbusters when capturing ghosts, this type of slime is a relatively new phenomenon.

Slime actually only requires a few ingredients and is a simple concoction of glue, borax and water that produces a putty-like substance. There are borax-free versions however, as well as variant recipes that call for shaving cream, cornstarch, contact solution, and other household items. The silliest part of slime that kids seem to be enjoying - aside from making it - is sticking a finger into it and then pulling it out to produce a funny little slurping noise, as organic and satisfying as the popping of bubble wrap.

The History of the Slime Trend

Long known as Gak, slime is actually not new: slime recipes have been floating around the internet for decades. But the recent trend with all of its variations owes its explosive popularity to social media.

The revival of the slime trend started in 2015 with a few young people posting slime videos showing how to make slime as well as videos of people playing with slime to Instagram. Followers came soon after, and accounts featuring similar videos blossomed. Other kids discovered these videos in their own social media feeds and started Instagram and YouTube accounts to feature their own experiments and creations. Many of the how to make slime videos involved adding secret ingredients to achieve unique properties and characteristics. Can you believe that searching for "how to make slime" on YouTube now yields more than 7 million results?!

Why Slime is So Popular

Many young budding chemists enjoy the process of making slime, even more than playing with it. Makers post new videos of how to make slime unique on social media to share with their friends and other DIYers worldwide. New creations keep the hobby fresh.

But the real source of slime's popularity may be auditory in nature. The appeal of the videos often featuring a tub of slime being poked at repeated lyis that distinctive slurping sound the slime produces when moved, stretched and interacted with.

The slime obsession has created several social media celebrities. @slime_baew, a teenage Thai slimer, has nearly 300K followers; her most popular video has been viewed more than 3 million times. YouTube user's diy satisfying MOST SATISFYING SLIME VIDEO EVER!!! has nearly 12 million views.

Some enterprising young people have even capitalized on the popularity of slime. Kids are selling their slime to friends at school, and some are even selling online. A 14-year-old in Florida, for instance, has her own Etsy shop for slime to cater to her 50K Instagram followers.

It helps that parents are for the most part supportive of their kids' hobby, citing the creativity and hands-on nature of making slime. And while Instagramming and posting to social media are a significant part of the fun, making slime doesn't involve significant screen time.

Perhaps best of all, it's an affordable hobby, as expenses are limited to a few low-cost ingredients (like common crafting supplies and household adhesives) and storage materials. It's inexpensiveness and super fun appeal has actually led to glues flying off of the shelves at stores, as budding DIYers can't wait to get their hands (literally) into the fun and silliness of slime!

How to Make Slime

The basic slime recipe is simple: add borax and liquid dye to glue! It's just one of the Aleene's Tacky Glue uses.

Simple Slime

See our Easy Tacky Glue Slime Video.

See images of this Slime Project.

INGREDIENTS:

Aleene's Original Tacky Glue 4 oz. bottle or Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue 4 oz bottle
2 tablespoons food coloring or Tulip Fabric Paint in your color of choice
1 tablespoon Borax Multi-Purpose Household Cleaner (Sodium tetraborate)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Squeeze entire bottle of glue into a bowl or plastic container. You may need to slightly dilute leftover glue in the bottle with water to empty completely.
Stir in the food coloring.
Mix in the Borax.
Keep stirring and it will start clumping up into slime. At some point you'll want to get your hands in there and work it around.

Tip: Slime will last several weeks when stored in a tightly sealed bag. Can be stored at room temperature.

Of course, there are hundreds of variations of slime to make. Here are our favorites:

Easy Glitter Slime

See our Easy Glitter Slime DIY video. And check out our other glitter and glue DIY!

See images of this Slime Project.

INGREDIENTS:

Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue 4 oz bottle
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons food coloring or Tulip Fabric Paint in your color of choice
2 tablespoons glitter
4 tablespoons liquid starch

INSTRUCTIONS:

Squeeze entire bottle of glue into a bowl or plastic container. You may need to slightly dilute leftover glue in the bottle with water to empty completely.
Add the water to the glue and stir.
Stir in the food coloring.
Stir in the glitter.
Stir in the liquid starch.
Keep stirring and it will start clumping up into slime. At some point you'll want to get your hands in there and work it around.

Tip: Slime will last several weeks when stored in a tightly sealed bag. Can be stored at room temperature.

Fluffy Slime

See our How to Make Fluffy Slime video.

See images of this Slime Project.

INGREDIENTS:

Aleene's Original Tacky Glue 4 oz. bottle
2 tablespoons food coloring or Tulip Fabric Paint in your color of choice
2 cups water, separated
1 tablespoon Borax Multi-Purpose Household Cleaner (Sodium tetraborate)
2 tablespoons lotion
1 cup shaving cream

INSTRUCTIONS:

Squeeze entire bottle of glue into a bowl or plastic container. You may need to slightly dilute leftover glue in the bottle with water to empty completely.
Add the food coloring and 1 cup of water to the glue and stir.
In a separate bowl, combine the Borax with 1 cup of hot water.
Add the lotion and shaving cream to the glue mixture and stir to combine.
Add the Borax water to the glue mixture.
Keep stirring and it will start clumping up into slime. At some point you'll want to get your hands in there and work it around.

Tip: Slime will last several weeks when stored in a tightly sealed bag. Can be stored at room temperature.