One of the biggest fascinations of many kids, including mine, is space. Kids love all things planets, rockets, and outer space. Today, we combined two of my kids biggest loves, slime and the solar system and make this fun solar system slime recipe!
I was inspired to make the solar system out of slime when I saw how much fun it was to put slime around a Styrofoam ball when we made snowman slime.
I knew if we used a bunch of different sized balls, we could make planet slime and recreate the entire solar system in slime!
The biggest difference between this slime and our favorite slime recipe is that this version is slightly thicker, so that it doesn’t automatically slide down the balls and create puddles of planets. We also added lotion, because lotion slime is all the rage with my kids right now.
Read on to see how to make your very own solar system slime!
You’ll also want to check out the ultimate list of summer STEM activities and the ultimate list of summer science experiments.
Check out the full list of summer slime recipes!
EASY PLANET SOLAR SYSTEM SLIME RECIPE
Make this easy planet solar system slime recipe and have fun while learning all about the solar system.
Want more slime? Host a complete Slime Summer Camp!
WHY MAKE SLIME RECIPES?
There are 101 reasons to make slime, but one big one not to. The big reason NOT to make slime is that it can be messy.
However, I think the benefits far outweigh the mess! And, there are plenty of low-mess slime recipes that you can do if you’re really not wanting things to be a mess when making slime.
But here are some reasons you SHOULD make slime:
- It’s a wonderful sensory activity
- It’s a fun screen-free activity for kids
- It gives you something to do at home with kids that’s fun for all of you!
- It’s a fun chemistry science activity
- Kids LOVE it
- It makes a fun gift
- It can build hand strength and pre-writing skills
- It can be therapeutic for kids with sensory needs
Whatever your reason for making slime, we have all the recipes for slime you’ll need to make your slime making experience epic!
SLIME MAKING PRINTABLE
Slime is easier to make when you use our slime troubleshooting printable!
WHAT CAN KIDS LEARN BY MAKING PLANET SLIME?
When you’re recreating the solar system in slime, it’s the perfect time to learn about the planets in our solar system.
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto
When making this slime activity, kids can learn about the order of the planets, what each planet is made of, how far away the planets are, as well as learning about chemical reactions and polymer chains from making the slime itself.
WHAT DO KIDS NEED TO MAKE SOLAR SYSTEM SLIME?
Since this slime is slightly thicker than most, you’ll need a few different ingredients than usual.
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- Borax powder
- 7 jars
- Water
- White lotion
- Clear glue
- Solar system picture or model
- Styrofoam balls in various sizes
Can’t find glue? Get a complete ready-to-go slime kit!
The secret to making perfect slime is mixing the coloring, glue, and lotion first.
Then you can add your activator to turn it into real squishy slime.
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20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster 65oz (Pack of 4)
ELMERS 2024691 Elmer’s Liquid School Glue, Clear, Washable, 32 Ounces – Great for Making Slime
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Floracraft Styrofoam Balls, 2-Inch, White, 12 Per Package
Outus 48 Pieces White Foam Craft Balls Decorating Ball for DIY, Crafting and Decoration, 4 Sizes
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HOW TO MAKE SOLAR SYSTEM SLIME
Follow these steps to make your own solar system slime recipe!
For our slime solar system, we made 7 colors of slime:
- White
- Yellow
- Orange
- Red
- Green
- Blue
- Brown
We used one large ball for the sun, four smaller balls for the largest planets, four even smaller balls for the other planets, and one tiny ball for Pluto. You can leave Pluto off if you want, but we decided to use it.
Mix up your slime by mixing 1/2 a cup of glue, 1/4 a cup of lotion, and food coloring in each jar (if you need slime mixing help, check out our slime troubleshooting guide).
Mix five cups of water and five teaspoons of Borax powder.
Pour a bit of the Borax liquid into each bowl.
Stir and knead until the slime forms. You may need to add a bit more Borax water if your slime is too sticky.
Carefully stretch the slime over each ball. Use different colors to represent the planets. This is how we did ours:
- Sun: All yellow
- Jupiter: Brown with white streaks
- Saturn: White with yellow stripes and three pipe cleaner rings
- Neptune: All blue
- Uranus: Half blue and half brown with a pipe cleaner ring
- Venus: Green with white streaks
- Earth: Blue with green patches
- Mars: All red
- Mercury: Half orange and half red
- Pluto: All blue
Use pipe cleaners to make the rings around the planets that have rings.
Place the planets on a rotating tray so they can spin around in orbit around the sun.
