Keeping my three-year-old nephew entertained is high on my list of priorities whenever I see him - I want to make sure I'm in his top four favourite grown-ups after all. So when we had the opportunity to spend some quality time together recently, I had this idea that we should test out some fun toys. After testing out Amazon's number one bestselling bath toy, with great success, I decided to kick things up a notch with Slime Baff. As the name suggests, this is a slime-based toy for ages three and over, that promises to turn your child's bathwater to slime for some gloopy fun, before eventually being simply and safely drained away.
Sounds good to me, I thought. And my nephew was equally excited to give it a go. This kind of sensory play is really good for a child's development, teaching them about cause and effect while also improving their fine motor skills and their problem-solving. It's a good idea to incorporate some of the best sensory toys into the toy box for your child from the moment they are born.
The idea of trying this for the first time in a bathtub seemed like a jump off the deep end, so we decided to confine our experiment to a washing-up bowl on a tabletop - here's how we got on.
Our Slime Baff experiment
This was mine and Max's first foray into the world of slime-making, so I was intrigued as to what the process would involve and how exactly this viscous, gloopy slime would simply and easily wash away.
The good news is that while it's called Slime Baff, that's not its only function. The instructions mention various ways to have some slimy fun, from bowl-based gloop to mess-free feely bags that are a great option for children younger than three.
The Slime Baff toy comes in three colour ways - green, blue and red, and we picked green for our experiment. Each pack is meant to be enough for one slimy bath, or four bowls worth of slimy fun.
Packaging
Slime Baff comes in a recyclable cardboard container, and inside you get two sachets of powder, labelled one and two, as well as an instruction manual and a promo flyer. None of the packaging itself feels unnecessary, but I only needed the instruction pamphlet, so any other promo material was a bit wasted and went straight into the bin.
Creating the slime
We made sure we had warm, but not hot, water in our bowl as the instructions stipulated, and then sprinkled an even layer of the green powder from the first sachet over the top. We didn't measure this exactly, but used probably about half the pack in the hopes of making some really thick slime.
According to the instructions, it takes about 15 minutes for the slime to reach its maximum thickness, and users are encouraged to stir it regularly, and the more you stir it, the thicker it gets.
Waiting 15 minutes is a long time for a three-year-old, so after I gave it a quick mix with a wooden spoon, it was then Max's turn before he abandoned the spoon altogether and just went straight in with his hands. It was definitely very liquid when we started getting our hands in it, and we noticed it thicken up as we were playing, and it's definitely more fun when it's gloopier. Max loved trying to pick it up and squelching it between his fingers.
I was expecting it to create a very smooth slime, but ours was a bit lumpy (not that it was problematic). Max didn't notice a difference - and was having a wail of a time. As typical with some kids who love gross stuff, Max found it hilarious when we were doing pretend achoo-ing and flicking the slime off our hands and into the bowl (or onto each other's hands).
I was expecting a strawberry-scented slime, given what I'd read on Amazon, but to me, the green slime definitely smells pleasantly like an apple. If you've ever had apple-scented washing-up liquid, the smell is very similar.
While the slime is brilliant, and Max loved it, it is very messy, even when just confined to a bowl. It's impossible to wipe the worst off your hands without the need for a clean towel, which very quickly becomes slimy too.
Cleaning up
When it was time to tidy up, a very slimy Max was sorry to see it go. When I told him the slime had to go away, he said: 'No, I don't want it to, it's very cool' - high praise indeed. He also wanted Peppa and George from Peppa Pig to see it first. Man, he's adorable! Max wanted to go straight in the bath after playing as he was slimy up to his elbows, and there was even some in his hair (a true sign of fun times).
Once he was clean, it was time to tackle disposing of the slime. The instructions offer a couple of different disposal solutions depending on how you have used the slime, but in all cases, it involves adding more water to dilute the slime. The white powder included in the set is meant as an additional step to help break down the slime when it's been used in the bathtub.
For the bowl method, the instructions stated that we could dilute the slime to make it thinner, before pouring it down the toilet and flushing it away. While Slime Baff is certified biodegradable and will not block toilets, I was nervous about this method, so I used the white powder and diluted the slime to pour it down the sink instead.
Adding powder number two to help break down the slime
Added extra water to dilute further, stirring it with my hands
The slime really broke down and drained away easily
It quickly becomes more diluted and is easily poured away, but I made sure to get rid of it a little at a time and keep the water running just to make sure. But eventually, it was all gone, and the sink survived.
But everything we'd used for the slime was still super slippery. This wasn't too problematic with the items we'd used (I left them to soak in hot soapy water), but this could be a real pain in a bathtub, especially in homes with one family bathroom. The bath would need to be thoroughly cleaned before being safe enough to use again.
Do I rate it?
As messy as it was, Slime Baff was a lot of fun, and it was a lovely way to spend quality time with my nephew and create some hopefully lasting childhood memories. There's no doubt that he enjoyed it immensely. I was definitely glad we went for the bowl method rather than the bath - in the bath, you'd have to clean the bath, and then bathe the kids again to get rid of the slime. Hear me, parents - don't do it to yourself. Stick to the bowl all the way.
Speaking to other parents about slimy toys, there's one overriding consensus - parents are happy for their kids to play with it, as long as it's in someone else's house.
If you are looking to buy a toy for a child in your life, it's worth understanding the different types of play that support a child's development. For disgusting fun without the mess, check out these gross-sounding games that kids will love.
