Do you have a child who loves to make slime? My daughter is obsessed with slime! Don’t spend hours searching for the perfect recipe online. Slime Sorcery is a 128-page paperback book written by Adam Vandergrift and published by Ulysses Press. This ultimate how-to guide is jam-packed with ninety-seven DIY slime recipes for your budding slime scientist. My daughter tabbed the pages of the book with post-its indicating which recipes she wanted to try when the book arrived. 

At the beginning of the book you’ll find an introductory section which includes information on What is Slime, Will it Slime, Slime Science, Slime Safety, How to Use This Book, and What Do You Do With Slime. The author encourages you to teach the science behind slime. Children can learn about the states of matter, two types of fluids, properties, viscosity, forces that affect slime, polymers, and chemical reactions while having a blast making slime. They can also fine tune their prediction, experimentation, and observation skills. Several slime safety rules are mentioned such as creating slime with adult supervision, protecting your eyes and face from irritants, and washing your hands after playing with slime.

The introductory section is followed by a facts and questions section which contains eleven slime-related questions. A helpful two-page shopping list is also provided at the front of the book. This handy list provides the user with specific ingredients needed or brand names that work best in addition to the purpose for each ingredient.

The bulk of the book is organized into six broad slime categories including The Basics, Sensory Slimes, Food-Inspired Slimes, Glitter Slimes, Glue-Free Slimes, and Viral Slimes. There are a wide variety of slime recipes contained in this book that foster creativity. Each recipe page contains one or two slime experiments. My daughter’s attention was mostly captured by the intriguing food-inspired, sparkly glitter, and fascinating viral slimes.

The book is well-organized. Each simple slime recipe includes a list of ingredients, numbered step-by-step instructions, and brightly colored close-up photos. The directions were clearly stated and easy-to-follow. I love the fact that exact measurements were given. On several occasions we halved the recipes and they still worked. The supply list is indicated in green. Many recipes offer slime hacks, fun facts, special notes, or caution statements. For example, one slime hack stated that you could mix and knead ½ teaspoon of baking soda and two tablespoons of water to your slime recipe if it is too sticky.

The comprehensive book concludes with a one-page author biography. Adam Vandergrift is the creator of the popular Will It Slime You Tube channel which you should definitely check out! He also homeschools his three crafty daughters and his slime making projects have become a family fun event. We used the book in the same manner. My ten-year-old daughter and I spent hours making slime in order to develop a stronger bond and spend quality time together several times a week after her school work was done. If my daughter had her own way she would’ve used the book on a daily basis. It was the perfect rainy-day activity to do instead of watching television. She was completely engaged in the process. Our favorite recipes so far are the basic slime, magnetic slime, s’mores slime, chocolate hazelnut slime, mermaid scales slime, galaxy slime, kaleidoscope crunchy slime, and shampoo slime. The toothpaste slime was the one recipe she said was hard to handle and didn’t work as well as the others.      

You will need to buy some supplies for the slime recipes. I suggest purchasing or gathering the following basic supplies like we did which will enable you to immediately get started: Clear glue, white glue, Tide clear laundry detergent, contact lens solution with boric acid, plastic mixing bowls, stirring spoons, food coloring, glitter, and sealable plastic containers to store the slime for longer periods of time. Many other ingredients were conveniently found in our home. 

It’s a guide for making slime that will truly appeal to all children ages 5-14 especially those in 4^th through 6^th grade. Hands-on learners will enjoy using this book regardless of whether they homeschool or not.   

Slime Sorcery will become a permanent addition to our library collection. We look forward to creating more slime recipes for many more years. In fact, we can’t wait to make the color-changing and glow-in-the-dark slime. I don’t feel like we need to ever purchase any other slime book or kit after reading this book, because it is so thorough and complete. The kid-friendly recipes actually worked! I was impressed with the number of interesting and imaginative recipes for children to try. I also appreciate that the author teaches you how to create basic slime recipes and how to customize them to your personal preferences. I love that my daughter can discover and invent her own slime recipes using the basic starter recipes. Food-inspired recipes were marked as edible in white next to the title. However, I do wish that the food-inspired recipes included in this section were further broken down into two separate sections titled Edible and Not Edible for younger children utilizing the recipes. I would also like the non-edible recipes to be marked as non-edible in red next to each recipe title. Older children can easily tell which recipes are edible and which aren’t edible based on the ingredient list. 

We absolutely love this book and highly recommend it to parents, grandparents, after school care workers, babysitters, librarians, and elementary Science teachers working with children wanting to make slime for fun. I plan on purchasing copies of this book as gifts in the future for other slime-loving children in my family. The book costs $15.95.

-Product review by Tracey Masters, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March, 2018

Another Reviewer Perspective:

Slime Sorcery: 97 Magical Concoctions Made from Anything

Adam Vandergrift

Ulysses Press

www.UlyssesPress.com

Slime Sorcery is a wonderfully creative book that I think would be ideal for teens and tweens who are really into the craze of making slime! My thirteen-year old daughter is always making some kind of slime concoction in her bathroom, it seems, so I knew this book would get her excited, and I was not wrong!

She was really excited to see so very many recipes (ninety-seven of them, to be exact) all in one place. There are recipes that really stretch the imagination, and there are categories we never thought possible, including sensory slimes, food-inspired slimes, glitter slimes, glue-free slimes, and viral slimes. Some of the food-inspired slimes are even edible!

First, let me say that it seems a lot of thought was put into this book. It's not just a collection of slime recipes. It also includes information on what slime is, the science behind slime, slime safety, and even the many different ways to play with slime, complete with color illustrations! I couldn't imagine a more complete digest for the slime lover in your family.

My daughter started by investing in a gallon bottle of white glue and a gallon bottle of clear glue before she got started. Those are the main ingredients for a lot of the recipes, so she decided to start there. Lots of other ingredients are household items like baking soda, cornstarch, hair mousse, and foaming hand soap. Not only does the book give you a basic shopping list, but it also explains the effect each ingredient has on the texture and appearance of the slime, so if you wanted to, you could experiment a bit on your own to get just the slime creation you're looking to make.

My daughter has pulled out this book time and again to make a variety of the recipes, including the clear slime (her personal favorite), floam slime, marshmallow fluff slime, chocolate syrup slime, clear rainbow slime, and smooth matte slime. Next on her wish list are the glow-in-the-dark slime, avalanche slime, and lava slime!

I never understood why she loved making slime so much, but after looking at this book with her, I can see the possibilities are endless, and it's really such a creative outlet for her. I also couldn't envision what you'd do with slime once you'd made it, but the visuals provided in this book on how to play with slime helped me to see what makes it so much fun for kids!

The bottom line is that at just $15.95, this book paired with some basic glue and a handful of storage containers would make an awesome gift for any young person who likes hands-on activities.

-Product review by Kelly Burgess, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March, 2018