Fun Littles

Fun and easy kids activities

Edible Slime Dinosaur World

Feb 14, 201411,346 views
Messy Play
Ages3–6 yrs
Prep5 min
Activity30 min
Leveleasy
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class

Kids cut homemade rainbow edible slime into pieces and build a small world of roads, tunnels and swamps for toy dinosaurs and warrior fairies. It's easy cutting practice and a big prompt for storytelling.

⚠️ Safety first

  • An adult makes the slime. Cooked slime is HOT in the middle, so let it cool fully and check the center before kids touch it.
  • Taste-safe, not a snack: the slime's ingredients are non-toxic, so an accidental taste is no cause for panic, but don't let kids eat it.
  • Use child-safe scissors and supervise cutting.
  • Small toy figures can be a choking hazard for children who still mouth objects.
  • Supervise sensory play at all times.
  • Food color can stain hands and surfaces.

Before the kids arrive

  • Make the edible slime with the 1-ingredient edible slime recipe, one batch per color, and let it cool completely.

Steps

  1. Adult: make several batches of edible slime, one color each, and let them cool. Check that the middle isn't hot.

  2. Put the slime in a large container and add favorite toys like dinosaurs and fairies.

  3. Hand out child-safe scissors and let the kids cut the slime into pieces.

  4. Lay the pieces out as roads, tunnels and paths for the dinosaur city.

  5. Make bright orange strips into roads and paths for the residents.

  6. Deck the dinosaurs out with rainbow slime.

  7. Get some unlucky dinosaurs stuck in a colorful swamp.

  8. Bring in new characters, like warrior fairies, to save the stuck dinosaurs and keep the story going.

Tips

  • The edible slime is so smooth that it's great for cutting practice. Neither kid had any trouble cutting it, and they kind of went overboard and chopped it up real nice.from the author
  • Chopping isn't destroying. Our 5-year-old told us, "Mom, I'm not destroying. I'm building a Dinosaur World."from the author
  • The set-up is easier than the close-up photos make it look. Make edible slime, throw it in a container, add favorite toys and BOOM! You are done and ready to PLAY.from the author
  • So much story-telling happens during sensory activities like this. Let the kids solve the story their own way: one may bring in warrior fairies, and another may just use magic to save the dinosaurs.from the author

Make it your own

  • Swap the dinosaurs for any favorite toys.
  • Use slime pieces to decorate a long slime log as slime art.
  • Try the earlier Goopy Dinosaur World with green goo.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · February 2014
CUTTING PRACTICE
The resulting slime was such a great material to practice cutting. Since the edible slime was so smooth, both the kids did not have any trouble cutting it.
1 / 10

Edible Slime Dinosaur World: the original post

Sensory activities for kids are always a big hit in our house and our recent 1 ingredient edible slime activity has become a much sought after activity. We have multitudes of ways to play with the edible slime and today we share one such sensory activity all created by our 5 year old. Presenting kid-created slimy dinosaur small world and warrior fairies world(!!!) { Our earlier Goopy Dinosaur World here} Before we continue with today’s dinosaur small world post, click on this image to get the 1 ingredient edible slime recipe. fb The resulting slime was such a great material to practice cutting. Since the edible slime was so smooth, both the kids did not have any trouble cutting them. They kind of went overboard and chopped them up real nice.

CUTTING PRACTICE

Before I could ask any questions, Miss 5 quipped with a “Mom, I’m not destroying. I’m building a Dinosaur World.”

ART WITH SLIME

And so they did.

DINOSAUR SMALL WORLD SLIME

The city was planned with bright orange roads, tunnels and paths for the residents.

EDIBLE SLIME RECIPE PLAY

All the resident dinosaurs were decked with beautiful rainbow slime.

COLORFUL TREX

Some unlucky ones were stuck in colorful swamp.

SLIME DINOSAUR WORLD

4 dinosaurs all stuck in rainbow muck now. During sensory activities like this, so much story-telling happens. The child develops her already exploding vocabulary exponentially by engaging in creative play.

FAIRIES AND DINOSAURS IN SMALL WORLD

The dinosaur story like took another turn when warrior fairies came to save the dinosaurs. { An example of creative problem solving : the dinosaurs were stuck so another character fairies, who are traditionally thought of magical and nothing more are brought in. But Miss 5 attached another word “warrior” to the word fairies to ensure they are the appropriate characters to save the dinosaurs. Some children will probably use magic to save the dinosaurs ( Hint, Miss 3) Simple play like these are great ways to encourage vocabulary, problem solving skills, critical thinking, fine motor skills etc.

FAIRIES PLA

The warrior fairy saving the dinosaur.

DINO FAIRIES

Ok, before I started blogging whenever I looked at pictures of small world play posts by bloggers, I would love the pictures but would feel intimidated by the assumed complexity of the “set-up”. This was partially because of all the close-up images which give a lot of details making the readers (busy moms) think this sensory activity is a time consuming process. So to ease your mind, here is the reality shot, an aerial view which shows how easy this “set-up” actually is.

SIMPLE SMALL WORLD

Make edible slime, throw it in a container, add favorite toys and BOOM! you are done and ready to PLAY.

More sensory activities on our category page

Additional inspiration for sensory activities for kids on Pinterest.


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