Best slime making kits for 2022 UK

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Though you can make slime quite cheaply at home with our expert MFM mum's DIY guide to homemade slime, you can also purchase kits from a variety of UK retailers and toy shops, like Amazon, The Entertainer and Smyths Toys.

Pre-made kits allow you to create all kinds of slime: from glitter to floam to gel, slime for the bath and even scented slime. You can also buy slime for just a few quid, if you're simply after the end result...

So, want to buy a slime-making kit? Here's our guide to the best...

1. Cra-Z-Slime Super Slime Studio, £14.99

Age: 6+

Why we love it: A full-on slime station that lets you create a variety of slime, including a few different kinds of glitter slime as well as rainbow slime. There's a variety of options for single-colour slime, too.

Available from: Argos and John Lewis

2. Glam Goo Theme – Fantasy Pack, £7.50

Age: 6 years +

Why we love it: Slime is pre-made, but this is for kids who want to wear their slime as charms. Warning: does contain glitter!

Available from: Amazon and The Entertainer

3. Nickelodeon Experimake Sludge and Slime, £10

Age: 8+

What it is: A super-slimey experiment kit. Comes with protective goggles and gloves, plus the tools, ingredients and step-by-step instructions to make an invisible monster, slimy snakes, sludgy goo and slime balls.

Why we love it: It's messy play spliced with science and maths! Our child testers really enjoyed cooking up their potions and their parents were impressed that the kit has been development by proper scientists. You can do additional experiments using the kit and easy-to-find extras such as milk and washing up liquid, too.

What our child testers made of it:

'It was fun and satisfying to play with the sludgy goo. It was also cool to make the snakes and the balls and see how the ingredients work and turn into other things.' Georgie, 8

'Messy and fun. This would be a great birthday-party gift.' Zoe, mum to Georgia, 9

Available from: The Entertainer and Amazon

4. So Slime DIY Slimelicious Case, £14.99

Age: 6+

Why we love it: We love it because it's super easy to make and there is no mess! You only have to add water and the special powder, and our top tip is to wait for longer than the allotted 5 mins time it suggests! We also love the big storage box which is super handy to store slime supplies too.

Available from: Smyths

5. Elmer's Glue Slime Starter Pack, £14.99

Age: 3+

Why we love it: This kit contains the best PVA glue out there for making slime.

A box containing 2 bottles of Elmer's clear glue, and their very own Magic Liquid (2 bottles), which once mixed with the glue, turns it into slime. It also comes with 4 tubes of glitter glue too, which isn't nearly as messy as mixing loose glitter in to slime, so points for that!

Does it contain borax? No, but it does contain other chemicals such as benzisothiazolone which is also found in hand soap and detergent.

Available from: Amazon

6. Smelli Gelli Baff - Bubblegum, £2.50

Age: 3+

Why we love it: This kit of Gelli Baff Powder (150g), Dissolver Powder (150g) and instructions is a little less complicated than some of the other kits here.

Basically, you dissolve in the bath and you've got a slushy, slimey bath of goo! It doesn't stain the bath or your child's skin, which is great, and as an added bonus this particular kit smells of bubblegum. Mmm.

Does it contain borax? "Our products contain no Boron or harmful chemicals and are 100% safe for children," says makers Zimpli Kids.

Available from: The Entertainer

7. Nickelodeon Make Your Own Slime, £1-£2.50

Age: 3+ (but aimed at older kids, say 10+)

Why we love it: It's well-priced, comes in a variety of colours, and surely every child knows Nickelodeon for its slime!

Does it contain borax? "Our Slime is completely compliant with the heavy metal content requirements set-out within EN71 Part 3," says makers SAMBRO in a statement to MadeForMums.

"The boron content is well within the legally permitted limits and we have an extensive test file to attest to this."

Available from: Ryman and B&M

Do all of these slime-making kits contain borax?

We know that there's a bit of controversy surrounding the use of the sodium borate, boric acid or 'Borax' in slime recipes, especially when it's not properly diluted.

Which? also reported in July 2018 that slimes bought online from sites like Amazon, many of which don't appear to have a trusted brand behind them, can contain more than the EU recommended amount of boron - of which Borax is a compound. (Read more on that report).

We can clearly see straight away that several kits DO use an 'activator' - which in many cases is Borax or a solution containing boric acid.

We've contacted all of the above brands to double check with them their ingredients and to confirm that the amount used complies with EU safety regulations.

For now, we'll add: use your own judgement while shopping. Ask yourself: can you trust this brand to be safe and make a reputable, law-abiding product? Does it have the CE marking which means it satisfies EU safety regulations?

And if the kit you purchase does use a 'slime activator' like Borax, be sure it's properly diluted before your little one anywhere goes near it...

If you're keen to buy some ready-made slime, instead, here are our picks...

The Works Goopy Colour-Changing Slime, £2

Age: 3 years +

Why we love it: Cheap, cheerful and changes colour. It's very goopy and gummy rather than a stretchy one, and leaves a gooey feeling in your hands.

Available from: The Works

Flying Tiger Slime Pot, £3

Age: No recommended age given, but we'd suggest 6 years +

Why we love it: Brilliant, cheap as chips pots of slime, that are slippery and gooey and come in a variety of colours.

Available from: Flying Tiger

Images: Product websites