I am sure by now you have seen your fair share of slime recipes. I am also sure that by now you have seen plenty of calming sensory activities. However, have you seen calming glitter slime recipes?

That’s right! We made calming glitter slime. That’s a thing. Right?

Welcome back for another month of  12 Months of Sensory Dough Recipes where several bloggers get together to share the exciting sensory dough recipes and a variety of twists and turns.  It is our hope that you will have a one-stop resource for all things Sensory dough! This month we are featuring a huge list of scented doughs from play dough to cloud dough and everything in between.

When we set out to make this month’s sensory dough for the 12 months of Sensory Recipes, we had our hearts set on another glittery slime. Unfortunately, the consistency of our slime was a little too thick for what we wanted (don’t worry, we will be sharing that very soon! ) That’s when we decided to make calming glitter slime!

Materials for Calming Glitter Slime

Liquid Starch
Clear Elmer’s Glue
Food Coloring (optional)
Glitter (A MUST!! )
Calming Essential Oils ( I will talk about this soon)

What is Calming Glitter Slime?

You might be wondering how in the world a vibrant green ooze could possibly be calming. I mean, oh the mess that could happen right?

The science behind why this slime is so calming is actually pretty fascinating!

Calming Proprioceptive Input | Since this slime is extremely resistant and thick it provides a great deal of deep pressure and joint compressions. As you squeeze, fold, roll, and even pull the slime, you are sending signals to your brain that are calming and organizing! Much like chores, brain breaks and simple daily tasks, playing with slime is actually calming and can increase focus.

Calming Your Mind | While you twist, turn and roll the slime in your hands, you mind is almost immediately taken off guard. By providing a sensory stimulus, you brain is now thinking that you are not in danger and there is no reason to be stressed and alarmed.

Calming Scents | By adding in pure essential oils, you are enhancing the calming effect of the slime itself! There are many essential oils that will help you calm and focus. By adding these to your sensory play, you are getting the benefits of the olfactory system as well as the tactile input.

Some of our favorite calming essential oils are:

Peace & Calming
Valor
Stress Away
Cedarwood
Frankincense
Ylang Ylang
Lavender
Joy

There are many many many more, but these are great oils to get you started! They are great to use with or without adding them to the sensory play and we have had dramatic changes since adding them to our daily routine!

Creating Calming Glitter Slime

We have been having a lot of fun making videos lately, so we thought we would throw together another video of us making our slime and a few of the ways you can use the slime for calming and self-regulation.

First, mix together 1 5 oz bottle of clear glue and some of your liquid starch. We started with 4 oz in our jar but we slowly mixed it in, to make sure we had the right consistency. Add your glitter and a few drops of food coloring (you can always add more later).

Next stir everything together. If your slime is gooey and stringy, mix in a tad more glue or stir a little more (sometimes it just needs a lot of attention). If your slime is too sticky and solid, add in some more liquid starch. There is no wrong or right way to do this, simply add a little more or less of each.

Now onto the fun sensory step. To really get your slime good and mixed you need to knead it and squeeze it. This is where our recipe went a little off. We kept adding liquid starch which was making the slime less sticky (my boys can’t stand things to stick to their hands) and in turn made our slime very “flubberish”. This is completely a choice. Remember how I said its okay if you don’t have the recipe just like mine.

Finally, once you have the consistency you like, add in just a few drops of calming essential oils. It doesn’t take a lot. We used 3 drops of Peace and Calming and then just started kneading and squeezing the slime again.

I know you might think I am nuts to suggest that slime can be calming. I am here to say that just tonight (after the kids were done playing) I sat for about 45 minutes and just ran my hands through the slime. In the end I was relaxed and rejuvenated.

Do you have a special sparkle dough or calming activity you want to share? I would love for you to stop by our Facebook page and wave hi!

Now for the fun part…

12 Months of Sensory Dough Recipes

Would you call this recipe and activity a success or a fail? Would you try this recipe or have you tried another? We want to see! You can share pictures to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Google+. Tag your pictures with #ilovesensorydough.

Be sure to check out each blogger, as we will each provide a different take on the dough, some of us with have the BEST recipe ever, while others (probably me) will show you our attempts (both failed and successful).

Totally Awesome Sparkle Dough You Don’t Want to Miss

Calming Sparkle Slime | Lemon Lime Adventures
Constellation Dough | It’s A Long Story
Sparkly Mermaid Slime | Study at Home Mama
Twilight Sparkle Playdough | Squiggles and Bubbles
Music Inspired Moon Sparkle Dough| Witty Hoots

Rocks and Pebbles Outdoor Sparkle Dough| Peakle Pie
Sparkly Shamrock Dough | Preschool Powol Packets
Sparkle Salt Dough | Preschool Inspirations
Taste Safe Strawberry Lemonade Sparkle Dough | Bare Feet on the Dashboard
Twilight Sparkle Dough | Creative World of Varya

Midnight Sparkle Dough | Wildflower Ramblings
Star Wars Dough | Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tail
Glitter Oobleck from Still Playing School
Star Dough | the Pleasantest Thing
Metallic Sparkle Crayon Play Dough | Sugar Aunts

Sparkling Ocean Play Dough | Stir the Wonder
Shimmery Dough | In The Playroom
Sparkle Dough Eruptions | Little Bins for Little Hands
DIY Taste Safe Glitter and Rainbow Playdough | Powerful Mothering
Stress Busing Sparkle Dough | Raising Lifelong Learners