Mama-Needs-a-Minute Mush: a Two-Ingredient Slime / Putty Recipe

Parents—have you ever just needed a moment in slime time? That was me last Sunday. After a busy week, I just wanted some peace. My deck chair called my name loudly over the sound of tweety birds and spring wind. Truly my weed-infested backyard sounded like some sort of magic oasis after the past months of consistent busy-ness. I deserved a break.

My six-year-old son had other ideas. He wanted to do science experiments. He jabbered on about plastic cups and soap and water. I hooked him up with those and sat back down. His soap and water experiment lasted about 35 seconds. He then wanted hand sanitizer to add.

Einstein wasn’t letting this science thing go. Toxicity and Poison Control are NOT my jam. Consequently, my deck chair and my birdsong would have to wait.

Desperate times call for Pinterest.

So I found this recipe for slime / putty on onelittleproject.com. It was safe, simple, and little man could mix it up himself while I lolled around in the sun.

First, we dumped a heaping third of a cup of cornstarch and a ¼ cup of Dawn dish soap in a bowl.

Then I let my kid mix it up out on the deck, while I settled down in my lawn chair.

That’s it.

My son added an undisclosed amount of cornstarch to see how the consistency changed. When he added more cornstarch, he got crumbly dough. More soap gave him a runny consistency. Since we used green Dawn, the ick turned a delightful shade of infected mucus. He was happily playing with the stuff long enough for me to have my moment.

Yeah, he had gross hands.

Of course, there was slime all over the door knob.

He had cornstarch all over his black shirt.

Yes, the moment lasted about 15 minutes until I felt something cold on my stomach. He had stuck the slime to his nose hole so it dripped all over my middle.

When you’re an average mom to little people, a trip to the Caribbean when you need a moment is probably out. Fifteen minutes of quiet, thanks to snot slime, though, is just long enough to meditate your way to a white sand beach.

So here’s the recipe—you’re welcome.

Mama Needs a Moment Mush—

1/3 of a cup of cornstarch—running over

1/4 of a cup of dish detergent.

Add more or less of each ingredient to change the consistency and lengthen your time on your deck with the tweety birds. In fact, just buy the generic brands and let your kids play all afternoon!