Slime, from Gross Toy to Hand-Made Fun

Invented in 1976 by the company Mattel Toys, the purpose of the toy was to be a gross substance for children to play with. Mattel continued to produce slime, due to it retaining popularity, until 1990.

However, slime started going out of fashion after the companies stopped making different colours and styles of the oozing substance.  The original look of slime was green and oozy which was marketed towards young boys.

Cut to 2020, this toy has become a phenomenon, with many people not only buying the toy but also making it. Now you can make slime any way you want, with hundreds of videos on the internet of how to make the toy at home.  The appeal of making slime and ignoring the gross factor is trendier today.

Where this toy is most popular is in America, with traditional slime and sand slime are just the basic examples, with more and more being under development and made every day.

The ‘art’ of making slime has now become a pastime for people to do. Even though the subculture of slime making is far more prominent in America than here in New Zealand, it is increasingly becoming a world-wide fad.

Chappyslimes is a small business on Instagram, that creates novelty and decorative slimes of all shapes and colours. They are a New Zealand company that ships their creations all around the world. A YouTuber by the name of Karina Garcia, has dedicated many videos on reviewing and making slime.

From gross toy to handmade fun, slime has changed shape in the market over nearly thirty years.

Rosa’s Slimy Stress Reliever

Rosana Garner is a young Latin American woman who has an interesting hobby – Slime.

A student in the high-pressure nursing programme at Wintec, Rosa needed to find something that would help her relax.

“I found the texture, smell and sound of slime calmed me down while studying.” 

After immigrating from America in 2004, Rosa lived in Taranaki until 2017, before she moved to Australia, then back to New Zealand at the start of this year.

Discovering the hobby on YouTube and Instagram, Rosa became fascinated with this strange substance. For the last few years, Rosa’s collection of slime has grown to over 40 types of slime, ranging in texture and colour.

Some of the collection she has bought, but most of them she made herself. The aspect of slime that intrigued her the most, Rosa said, was the “texture, smell and sound”.

One of the many reasons Rosa enjoys slime is the “sensory stimulant” properties.

With each slime having different smells and textures it adds to the enticing part of collecting as many as possible.

All of the numerous types help stimulate the brain and the sensory system, which calms people who have busy or stressful lives.

Rosa is adamant collecting and playing with slime is a stress reliever.

Although for Rosa, the stress-relieving side of slime did not truly kick in until Covid19 and New Zealand went into isolation. Being a nurse is very important to Rosa, and though she did not have to work during the lockdown, she did have exams and lectures online.

The slime helped her during her studying because she had something in her hands to stop her from fidgeting. Slime helped her concentrate on her studies.