14 Ways to Make DIY Slime and Homemade Play Dough

If you ever wanted to know how to make slime or play dough, then stop right here. Skip the store and cobble together a plethora of kid-approved, tactile sensations with ingredients you probably already have at home.

By: Beth Braden

Show: HGTV Handmade

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Photo By: Jennifer Perkins

Photo By: Debbie Wolfe

Photo By: Cassidy Garcia

Photo By: Debbie Wolfe

Photo By: Andy Vinson of Loch & Key Productions

Photo By: Cassidy Garcia

Photo By: Jennifer Perkins

Easy Does It

Slime and play dough come together quick with items around the house. For slime, you’ll need to cruise by the laundry room for borax or liquid starch, and swing by the junk drawer for glue. Raid your pantry for flour and salt for homemade play dough. Don’t write these off as kid toys though — both have some super practical, real-world uses.

This glittery slime shakes up the standard recipe and is made with baking soda, glue and saline solution instead of borax.

Classic DIY Slime Recipe

This homemade slime recipe calls for liquid starch instead of borax, but you’ll definitely need the glue. Add some food coloring to make it your favorite color. If you have a newspaper lying around, a rolled out rectangle of slime is just sticky enough to lift a bit of ink from the newsprint and create a "copy" of your favorite comic from the funny pages.

DIY Fruity Play Dough

Make your homemade play dough fruity and colorful when you add fruit-flavored drink mix powder as well as food coloring. Peach Mang-dough, anybody?

How to Make Slime Without Glue

Out of borax? No glue or liquid starch or contact lens solution? Enter Peeps. Combine the beloved (or bemoaned, depending on the person) marshmallow candies with some coconut oil and a bit of cornstarch and you're in business.

Get the Steps: Use This Easter Peeps Hack to Make Slime Without Glue

DIY Slime With Glitter

Make your slime sparkle with a bit of glitter or small pieces of holiday-themed foil confetti. Package smaller portions for a great non-food alternative for Halloween treats!

Easy Moldable Sand

Some people add glitter to their slime, but if you add fine grain play sand to a slightly adjusted slime recipe, you get homemade moldable sand — and it's much cheaper than buying it in stores. Keep your kids (or yourself!) entertained for hours.

Get the Steps: Have a Beach Day at Home With This DIY Moldable Sand

Homemade Play Dough Valentines

Dough go breakin' any hearts! Create pink play dough and cut it into heart shapes as a favor for your child's Valentine's Day party. This idea easily adapts to other holidays and occasions.

Get the Steps: Make Homemade Play Dough Valentines

Homemade Cleaning Slime

Crumbs in your keyboard? Strangely sticky dust on the baseboards? Crud in the car's console? Slime's slightly sticky texture and pliability make it great at squeezing into hard-to-reach spots to grab the gathered grime.

Get the Steps: DIY Cleaning Slime for Hard to Reach Spaces

DIY Scented Play Dough Recipe

This homemade play dough recipe is the ultimate stress buster. Add your favorite essential oils (I love clean, citrus scents), and you've created an aromatherapy stress ball. Take five and squish your troubles away.

DIY Snow Slime

Adding some styrofoam balls to your slime gives it texture and looks like snowballs. Create an entire snowscape for your child's toys.

Get the Steps: DIY Snow Slime

Chalkboard Slime

Here's a recipe for slime you can write on. Add some chalkboard paint to a slime recipe and then go all out with a chalkboard marker.

Fluffy Shaving Cream Slime

Mix 2-3 cups of shaving cream with 1 cup of glue and a bit of food coloring. Add 5 tablespoons of contact lens solution and mix by hand until the slime comes together. Add more contact lens solution if the slime is too sticky.

Contact Solution Slime Without Borax

Mix 5 ounces of white glue with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and food color of your choice. Add 1-1/2 tablespoons of contact lens solution and knead until it reaches the right slime. To make it stickier, add small amounts of warm water.

Shampoo and Cornstarch Slime

This slime smells amazing. Mix 1/2 cup of shampoo with 2-1/4 cups of cornstarch. Add food coloring. The mix will be very crumbly, but add water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the desired slime consistency is reached.