Ode to Green Slime
Slime in popular science books, however, is slime approved by the adult world, no matter how carefully the authors of these books try to infuse the practice of slime making with rebellion. Search for “green slime” on Pinterest and you’ll find whole colonies of sanctioned glue-and-Borax slime, pinned as recipes by moms trying to infuse their kids’ lives with the right kind of learning experiences. The gospel of “messy” or “sensory” play holds that preschool children, given the chance to interact with the world through smelling, touching, tasting, and hearing, will develop problem-solving skills, linguistic ability, cooperation, and creativity.
While there’s little implication that adults would try to teach young kids about the characteristics of non-Newtonian substances using this slime, there’s plenty of discussion on the way that sensory play allows children to “act like scientists,” gathering data through their fingertips. Parentally supervised green slime, made at the kitchen table in a large mixing bowl, is one of many ways that the crafty mom enriches her kid’s life. Well-intentioned parents and science teachers are following Nickelodeon’s lead, capitalizing on the inherently kettish qualities of slime in an effort to sell them science.
TheAtlantic.com, February 6, 2015