4-H Mentees Make Gooey Slime!

By Connie Gerow, 4-H Mentoring Site Coordinator

"Oh, this is gooey", "that's why it's called slime" were a few of the statements that were said by the 4-H Mentoring Youth at Salmon River and the St. Regis Mohawk School when they mixed a couple of ingredients together to create, in reality, a flexible polymer.

As an introduction to the project, the youth were informed that today they were going to become "chemists." And, like any chemistry experiments we were going to have a hypothesis (a guess) as to what will happen when two mixtures are mixed together to create a reaction.

At this point, you might be saying to yourself, how is this 4-H? Or, this isn't the 4-H that I used to know! Well, you are correct on both parts... this is the new look for 4-H which not only includes the old, but also brings in a new dimension of science, technology, engineering and math (aka STEM). According to Tom Lehr, the CEO behind the campaign, the new look of the #4HGrowsHere campaign is to embrace the agriculture roots and tell the story of the 4H's evolution.

As for making "slime" this is an easy opportunity for youth to learn about a simple reaction using two types of solutions to create a fun gooey mixture aka flexible polymer / slime. The youth were provided with the list of materials and directions. The materials needed are two bowls or large 16 oz. cups, clear glue, water, food coloring (optional), Borax (laundry soap), a stirring device (Popsicle stick) and a plastic bag. The directions are as follows: add to one of the bowls or cups - ¼ cup of water and ¼ cup of the clear glue, food coloring of one's choice and stir. In the other bowl or cup, place ½ cup of water and ½ teaspoon of Borax. Stir this solution until all the powder is dissolved. Pour the first mixture of water and glue into the Borax solution - stirring vigorously. At this point, an obvious reaction will happen. At this point the excess water will be required to be poured off and the remaining "slime" kneaded with your hands. The plastic bag is used to store the slime with a recommendation to keep cool or refrigerated when not playing.

As 4-H is the largest youth development program in the United States, the aim is to maintain the roots and create a focus on grooming a future generation of leaders to tackle challenges. For more information about how to involve your youth in 4-H related activities, one may visit the Franklin County website at http://franklin.cce.cornell.edu/ or one may call the office at 518-483-7403.