Per S's request to make costumes for our Space Station, I stopped by our local craft supply shop last night to pick up a couple of NASA orange (is that a Crayola color yet?) t-shirts for us to decorate this morning. I prepped each one with strips of thin black and silver duct tape and drew on my own version of a NASA logo with permanent marker. You could use fabric markers. You could use up-cycled white undershirts or whatever you have on hand. Duct tape and permanent marker won't make these the most laundry-friendly costumes over the long term, but since it's for dress-up, it'll do just fine!
S and Y used permanent markers to decorate their shirts. Tatty might have also gotten in on the drawing this morning as well! Next it was time to suit up and take off. S gathered some books and telescopes from our little space themed basket. He also packed along his Blueprints Book and grabbed a clipboard with Flight Plans printed from Pocket of Preschool's Space Station Dramatic Play Set. He has been very into dictating and navigating and recording various space missions. Y has been very involved in helping to count backward (and forward) and co-piloting our space shuttle. Even little C has gotten in on some of the fun and play!
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| We store some of our space themed books, props and materials in a small basket in front of our bookshelf. |
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| Exploring Venus this morning... |
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| Y has been carefully "taking notes" and documenting our space missions... |
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| Y and S wanted C to wear a jet pack... |
To make your own batch of Galaxy Slime, you will need:
- 4oz (half a cup) of clear glue or glitter glue*
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp Borax Powder**
- glitter
*I decided to double the recipe above and had only 1/2 a cup left of each clear glue and silver glitter glue, so I used both and S and Y generously mixed in additional rainbow glitter
**A little note on safety: If you prefer to not use Borax Powder in your slime, there are recipes online for Borax-free slime (though most use products that contain the same chemical). I have never experienced any chemical burns from using Borax, however I do recommend that an adult supervise and assist, that you follow the recipe carefully and that until the ingredients are fully incorporated and the slime has congealed, little hands use a spoon or fork to mix and only adults mix by hand. Wash hands thoroughly after play each time.
Directions: In a large mixing bowl, pour in your glue. In a separate bowl or cup, dilute your Borax Powder in your water. Pour that into the glue in your large mixing bowl and mix. Mix some more. Mix some more. Just keep mixing, mixing, mixing. You can mix by hand (see the note above about safety) and mix longer than you think it could possibly take, all the while wondering and worrying whether this will every become slime. It will. It is an incredibly forgiving and slow and magical process. You will first see lumps. You will then see froth and suds. Your goop will take on a cloudy color and then, all of a sudden, it will start to become stringy and sticky and then congeal into the perfect blob of bouncy Galaxy Slime! And then it's time for the real play to begin...
I used a 55% off coupon to treat the kids (and myself) to the Safari Ltd. Space Toob for some themed play accessories. The boys also like to use plastic knives with just about every kind of sensory play dough. Y was all done whining and crying once we got busy in the kitchen concocting our Galaxy Slime and smooshing every little lump out of that ball of goop really helped calm my frayed nerves as well. So did the second pot of coffee I made once everyone went down for a nap...
When you are done playing with your slime, it can be stored in a ziplock bag or airtight container to save it between play sessions. I've refrigerated it before to keep it longer, but there's no need to do so.
It's true, there's no place like space and we've got a lot more exploring to do in the days to come! Until then...
Happy Playing!
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