This gold slime recipe is one of my most favorite slimes to make with children! It’s easy to make, even if you don’t know a lot about how to make slime with kids.
Related: St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Preschoolers
My son, my students, and I have been having a little too much fun with slime for years and years now!
It’s incredibly engaging sensory play for the kiddos, along with being an interesting science activity.
Gold Slime Video Tutorial
Here’s a short video showcasing how easy it is to make this gorgeous golden slime.
You can even add things like plastic gold coins to it, especially if you’re incorporating the slime into a pirate theme or a St. Patrick’s Day theme.
Here’s a peek at how to make gold slime with just three simple ingredients:
A Word about Slime Safety
While the kids and I have never had an adverse reaction to these slime ingredients, I can’t account for anyone else’s personal reactions.
Make and play with slime at your own discretion.
Adults need to oversee every part of the process very closely.
If there are any special allergies or skin conditions, take those into account before playing.
No ingredients should be put into anyone’s mouth, nor should any of the slime.
Related: Learn How to Make Metallic Silver Slime
How to Make Gold Slime
We used three ingredients to make this gorgeous gold slime, and the kiddos played with it for hours!
I hope you have as much fun with this gold slime as we did!
Here’s how we made it:
Golden Slime Ingredients
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5 oz. bottle of Elmer’s Clear School Glue
2 TB Colorations Gold Liquid Watercolor
Water (Optional)
1/2 cup (4 oz. or 8 TB) of Sta-Flo Liquid Starch
Gold Slime Recipe Directions
Start off by placing all of the clear glue into a bowl or cup.
If you’d like to add water, do so at this point by adding warm water to the empty bottle. Shake the bottle up, and then pour the water into the bowl with the glue.
Next, add the gold watercolor to the glue mixture.
Related: St. Patrick’s Day Tracing Printable for Preschoolers
Be sure to stir it in completely before the next step.
Then shake the liquid starch bottle to make sure nothing’s settled to the bottom.
Pour HALF (about 1/4 cup) of the liquid starch into the glue, then stir very well.
Add half of the remaining liquid starch (about 1/8 cup) to the mixture and stir well.
Add the remaining liquid starch and keep on mixin’.
Then knead the mixture using your hands. It will feel like thick pudding at first. As kneading progresses, it will transform!
After kneading for a minute, check the stickiness and stretchiness of the slime. Knead for another minute if necessary, but don’t over-knead.
If need be, add another tablespoon of liquid starch to the slime and knead for another minute or two.
Be sure to add the liquid starch in small increments or it’ll become a clumpy mess!
If you run into any problems with the process, check out Fun at Home with Kids’ how to fix slime post.
She has a different glittery slime you might want to check out while you’re there.
Related: Silver and Gold New Year Slime Recipe
Playing With the Metallic Gold Slime
After the children and I made our golden slime, I set it out on a large white platter.
Then the kids and I jumped right in to play with it!
We swirled it around on the plate, stood on chairs to see how far it would stretch, and had “slime falling races” with each other.
Once the boys had explored the material itself, I added some gold coins to the platter.
Related: Princess Slime for a Preschool Fairy Tale Theme
One of the boys enjoyed placing the coins into the slime, then seeing the impressions they left behind.
He was very focused on squishing the coins into the slime, counting the coins, and hiding the coins for the others to find.
Related: Gingerbread Butter Slime with Model Magic
The kids absolutely loved stretching the slime up high, then letting it swirl and fall back onto the platter.
The youngest kiddo made a variety of “coin sandwiches” with the slime, telling me to “eat it!” with a giggle. (Of course, I reinforced that we don’t really eat slime ever.)
Related: Candy Cane Shaving Cream Slime
We took turns loading the slime with gold coins.
Then we’d stretch the slime up high or to the side and watch how many coins remained inside the slime.
The kids had a blast stretching the slime all over the place with me, too!
We found out it would stretch up taller than me (I’m 5’9″) and stretch out into the other room.
If you and your class enjoyed the simplicity of this slime recipe, check out some other liquid starch slime ideas for your classroom!
How to Make Different Types of Slime
This particular slime idea started with a slime-themed chat I had with Asia of Fun at Home with Kids.
I’ve made slime with my son and my students many times in the past. So when Asia told me about a “Slime Week” challenge, my wheels started churning.
The kiddo and I worked together to create an awesome Lego Star Wars molten lava slime experience. One part of it involved this oh-so-easy gold slime recipe I’m sharing today.
Years later, it’s still one of our favorite, go-to slime recipes to make.
If you’re looking for even more, you really need to make sure to check out The Ultimate List of Types of Slime from A to Z. You will find TONS of ideas there!
Let me know if you try out our gold slime recipe! I’d love to hear how your kiddo(s) interacted with it.
Originally published on June 24, 2014
Incorporate the Gold Slime into Your Preschool Plans
While I think this golden slime is fun to make at any time, I also think it fits perfectly into certain preschool themes.
Save time and get right to the thematic fun with done-for-you lesson plans from Preschool Teacher 101.
Click on the photos below for more information:
Gold slime! Wow, I know the kids would love that, and it looks awesome!
Thanks so much Karen! The kiddos and I definitely LOVED this slime – shiny AND slimy! 🙂
Wow, what a beautiful way to explore slime! love it.
Thanks so much, Kim! 🙂
Beautiful!!!!
Wahoo! That’s a big complement from the Galaxy Slime goddess!!!! 😉
What are the uk equivalent ingredients – does anyone know please? Think my under 2’s will love it.
Hi Sally! My friend Asia of Fun at Home with Kids worked hard to create a slime recipe out of ingredients available in the UK. Check it out here — http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2014/07/make-slime-with-laundry-detergent.html.
I love this post! Thank you for the recipe 🙂 I hope to experiment with my son this week and hopefully use in the classroom this fall!
Thank you Joy!! Let me know how it goes when you try it out!!!! 🙂
I love all these slime recipes, but I have to order the glue. Or do you know European glue, that I can use instead? We like your page, Karin!
so beautiful!! does this last a while if stored airtight? a week? a month? thanx for posting!!
Can you use corn starch
Hi there! 🙂 For this particular recipe, I wouldn’t suggest corn starch. Now some golden oobleck might be fun to make though! I’m going to have to try that. 🙂
cool! but where can you find liquid corn starch?
Thanks, Ava! It’s liquid starch, and I find it the easiest at Walmart (in the laundry aisle). Some local grocery stores have it, too.
The slime turned out perfect. The children loved playing with it. I also added jewels to it because it was pirate week. The teachers said the consistency was perfect. Thank you.
Wahoo, so glad to hear that! Yes, it’s perfect for little pirates. 🙂 Thanks, Jill!
That looks like such fun and so pretty to even just look at my Little Miss Toddler would get a huge kick out of this stuff. Thank you.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Jennifer! We still love this slime! 🙂
Hello! I have a class of 17 students (a mixture of Kinder and 1st grade). I’d like to do this with my class. How would the measurements differ in order to make enough slime for all of them?
Hi Corina! I’ve used this same amount when using slime with the prek kiddos, but I did it during center time (so there was never more than about 5 children with it at a time). If you want enough to split between all of the children, I’d suggest multiplying the recipe by 4 or 5. I need to test that out, as I’ve never made a huge batch like that. Something tells me my son and I will be testing this soon! If we do, I’ll come back with a more specific answer. 🙂
Just found your site and I love it. I am linking to this post for a post I am doing on St. Patrick’s Day. Do you know if your slime can damage furnishings if it’s left out? We had an incident over NYE with some putty that permanently stained my couch:(
Thanks so much! Oh that is just no fun! We’ve had it get on our carpet, shirts, pants, and even Wookie pajamas. In each case, we were able to get it out with vinegar. I haven’t had an issue with furnishings, but I can’t promise it won’t happen.
Hey! My name is Eva and I love LOVE slime! I found this Recipe while browsing through slime recipes and I just made it! I am so satisfied! It is the most perfect slime and I am OBSESSED with it!
So glad you liked the slime, Eva! It’s definitely one of our favorites too. 🙂
How “sticky” is this slime? We’ve used borax for a slime recipe in the past, and it’s pretty sticky, I’m really looking for something that with “pour” and stretch but not stick to little fingers! Thanks! This is beautiful and will be amazing for a goldmine birthday party!
Hi Cherie! I found that this slime isn’t overly sticky. I don’t care for slime that sticks to everything. I’d rather it be stretchy without being too sticky. However, everyone’s bodies run a little different. So warmer hands might find it to be stickier. If that’s the case, add a bit more liquid starch (a teaspoon at time) and knead the slime. How’d the party go?!
Thanks Mary! We tried it and this is by far the best and least “sticky” recipe we’ve made! Perfect for our party thank you!
Wahoo! I love hearing how others use the slime. 🙂 Glad to hear the party went well.
I like it good idea
Thank you!
How do you think using Gold Tempra paint instead of watercolors would change the consistency?
I’m not sure really. Tempera paint tends to be a bit thicker than liquid watercolors. We’re going to have to try that out sometime soon!
So cool and pretty I am in love thank you for your ideas
Thanks so much, Emma! Glad you liked it. 🙂
My daughter and I just made it with a full gallon of glue. She’s having a gold rush themed birthday party tomorrow. We’re putting it all in a shallow plastic bin for kids to sit around and play in. It’s definitely going to be a hit.
Oh my word, that is an amazing idea! Tell her I said happy birthday!!!
OMG the prettiest gold SLIME. Love It
Thank you! I’m pretty partial to it, myself! 😉
I can hardly wait!
Glad to hear it! Let me know what you think after you make it.
It’s interesting that you don’t consider the water as an ingredient, nor do you show it being incorporated in the video. Water is necessary right?
It’s an optional ingredient, as some people prefer making slime with water while others don’t.