Make Magnetic Slime at Home

Materials you'll need

• 1 cup water
• Cornstarch
• White PVA glue
• Iron filings
• Magnet
• 2 bowls (one for mixing the activator, one for the slime)
• Spoon for stirring

 

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Pour 1 cup of water into a bowl, then add 1 spoonful of cornstarch. Stir until fully dissolved. This is your liquid activator mixture.

Step 2: Pour white PVA glue into a second bowl. Add 2 spoonfuls of your liquid activator mixture to the glue and stir to combine.

Step 3: Once the mixture starts to come together, knead it with your hands in the bowl until it forms a smooth, stretchy ball of slime.

Step 4: Flatten the slime and add 1 spoonful of iron filings into the center. Fold the slime over and knead until the iron filings are completely mixed in and the slime turns dark gray.

Step 5: Place your finished slime on a flat surface and hold a strong magnet close to it. Watch it crawl and stretch toward the magnet! Try moving the magnet slowly to lead it around.

Learn more

Magnetic slime is attracted to magnets because it's full of iron filings — tiny pieces of iron that respond to magnetic fields. Iron is a ferromagnetic material, meaning it contains microscopic regions called magnetic domains, where groups of atoms all point their magnetic "poles" in the same direction. When a magnet gets close, those domains align with the field, pulling the iron (and your slime!) right along with it. The stretchy slime base traps all the iron filings so they move together as one squishy, creeping blob.