Lily Pad Frog Slime Recipe
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This lily pad frog slime recipe is a great way to make slime and have hands-on fun while learning about ponds or frogs. Use it for a frog theme and frog life cycles.
In nature, lily pads are a floating leaf that comes from a water lily. Frogs typically hide on them to protect themselves from their predators – water snakes and certain fish. Not only does the lily pad provide safety, but it also produces shade which helps cool a pond.
I thought lily pad slime would be a perfect slime project because the slime easily forms into a circle. And we love adding plastic toys to our slime projects. You could transform this into an entire pond life sensory play activity.
Just be sure to keep vinegar handy for any slime that gets on clothes or hair.
Frog Lily Pad Slime
This recipe makes enough slime for about 2-4 children at a time. It takes about 15 minutes to make one batch. To get started, grab the following.
- Frog figures
- 2 Bottles of Elmer’s glue (5-6 oz. each) — Clear or white
- ½ – 1 tsp of Borax
- 1 cup hot water, ½ cup water
- Big, wide bowl
- Green liquid watercolor or food coloring
- Vinegar (to remove from hair or clothes)
- Gloves
I recommend using two bottles of glue because you want to get a perfect consistency of slime, and the second bottle is a backup. Make them one at a time though so that you can adapt the second one if necessary. Getting the perfect consistency the first time doesn’t always go so smoothly, so I like having the second bottle to make my slime completely perfect!
Clear or white glue work best for this slime. I only use Elmer’s and stick to their popular and common glues. Some of the specialized ones don’t work very well either.
Bowl 1 – Water and Borax Mixture
Find a nice sized bowl. You will need to squish the slime in it, so make sure it is big and wide enough.
Mix one cup of hot water in the bowl with ½ tsp of borax. Dissolve completely.
You will want to hold onto this mixture, even after your slime is made! If you find that your slime is too stretchy or turns sticky after a few minutes of playing, you’ll be glad you didn’t dump this out!
Allow the borax and water to cool as you prep you the next step.
Bowl 2 – Glue and Water Mixture
Mix one container of Elmer’s glue (5-6 oz) with ½ cup of water. You won’t want to skip this step. The glue needs to be watered down and separated to prevent a slime fail. I find that a container with a pour spout is perfect for this.
Use a whisk to stir them together. You want it to be completely mixed, so this may take a few minutes.
Add several drops of green liquid watercolor or food coloring.
Now, it’s time to pour your glue mixture into the big bowl with the borax and water mixture.
Watch for a minute as the glue mixture starts to polymerize! It’s such a cool sight to see.
Then, start squishing the slime to help it absorb as much of the borax and water mixture as possible. Feel free to wear gloves or to stir with a spoon if you would prefer. I recommend that the adult does this part.
The slime will feel quite sticky or chunky for a minute or two but keep squishing, kneading, stirring, or mixing. Do this for two to three minutes.
Once it isn’t feeling sticky or chunky, pull it out and knead it some more.
Make a Lily Pad
Take a small piece of slime and set in on a surface. You’ll see it spread into a circle after a minute or two, and it has magically transformed from just green slime to a lily pad. It’s all ready for the frogs to come start playing on it.
Feel free to add bugs, glass beads, and more to make this frog lily pad slime even more inviting!
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