Homemade Floam Recipe for Play

The other day Rosie and Jewel saw Floam at the store and wanted me to purchase some. Before buying it I wanted to try and see if we could make floam first. The process of making play materials at home is fun and educational, and kids really enjoy playing with materials they make themselves. Here is how we made our floam.

Homemade Floam

Recipe for Play

Also be sure to check out our other FLOAM recipes:

Glow in the Dark Floam

Scented Rainbow Foam

How to Make FLOAM

Floam Recipe (affiliate links provided)

2 tsp of borax (found in the laundry aisle or online here)
1/2 cup of warm water & 1/4 cup of warm water- divided
2 oz of white school glue
1 & 1/3 cups of polystyrene beads (bean bag filler)

Optional: Food coloring or liquid watercolors if color is desired

Method

In a bowl combine 2 teaspoons of borax with 1/2 cup of very warm water.
Mix until the borax is dissolved.
In a separate bowl combine 1/4 cup of white school glue with 1/4 cup of water. Add several drops of food coloring or liquid watercolors if color is desired.
Once the ingredients of both bowls are mixed pour the glue mixture into a zip seal bag. Add the polystyrene beads and then add the borax and water mixture and seal the bag.

Once sealed mix the ingredients of the bag well until the floam is formed

You can use more or less of the borax and water mixture to create different floam consistencies. Use more for a stiffer and more mold-able floam. Use less to create a more slime-like floam. We wanted a stiffer floam, so we used all of the borax & water mixture.

Mixing the floam is really fun for kids and is an activity all in itself

After lots of mixing you will have FLOAM! We repeated the above steps to make a variety of colors. To get vibrant coloring you will want to add a lot of food coloring. You can also use liquid watercolors, which work really well! The liquid watercolors we use can be purchased online here.

Floam is so fun! It can be molded and shaped but is also squishy and gooey. It has a really unique texture that is irresistible to touch.

Homeamde Floam- this stuff is easy to make and so fun! {So much cheaper than the store bought stuff!}

My kids love this stuff and play with it often!

Floam can be stored in an air tight container for endless play, or kids can leave their creations out to dry and preserve their works of art.

Rosie and Jewel have had great fun playing with their homemade floam, and they were so proud that they were able to make a product at home rather than buying it in the store.

A Few Tips: Polystyrene beads can be found in most craft stores or online here. I could not find a smaller size bag of the classic beads online, so you may want to check your local craft store. You could try breaking up Styrofoam you have on hand or use a cheese grater and grate Styrofoam cups if that is easier or more accessible. We did not make our floam this way, but I did read that it works. Borax is a laundry booster and can be found in the laundry aisle of most stores or online here.

Note- You may need to purchase a few items to make this, but making your own floam is way cheaper overall. Once you buy the borax and bean bag filler you will have enough to make many, many batches of floam. You can also use these ingredients to make a ton of other play materials like slime or homemade bouncy balls. Visit our play recipes collection for other ideas.

Other Floam Recipes We Have Made:

Glow in the Dark FLOAM