Stretch some slime in your hands. It oozes through your fingers. You can make it any shape.
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iStockPhoto/Getty Images (Panda Squish Toy); Marybeth Rivera (Squeezing Toy, Squish Toy Bucket); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Slime or Squish?
Slime feels good in your hands. Squish toys do too. They are both fun to play with. Which would you grab?
By Katie Mach
From the October/November 2025 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will compare and contrast slime and squish toys.
Slime Time!
What does it feel like?
What does it look like?
Slime can be any color. It can be sparkly or shiny. It can even glow in the dark!
Do you want to make it?
You can make your own slime. You just need the right ingredients. Making slime is fun. Just don’t let it dry out. Yuck!
Squish Toys!
What do they feel like?
Squeeze a squish toy in your hand. It puffs up. Then it goes back to the same shape.
What do they look like?
Squish toys can look like animals or fun foods. They can be bumpy or spiky.
Do you want to get one?
You can’t make squish toys. You buy them at a store. Finding new squish toys is fun. Just don’t squeeze too hard. Pop!
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Activities
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Skills Activities
Answer Key
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More About the Article
English Language Arts Focus
Compare and contrast
Science Focus
Properties of matter
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Implementation
- Whole group
Pairings and Text Connections
- Suggested books: The Slime Book by Erin Kelly; So Much Slime by Jason Lefebvre
Before-Reading Resources
- Vocabulary slideshow (5 minutes) oozes, ingredients, spiky
- Video: Skill Power: Compare and Contrast (5 minutes) A fun how-to video on how and why we compare and contrast
Suggested Reading Focus
Compare and contrast (20 minutes)
- Ask students if they have ever played with slime or a squish toy. Activate background knowledge by asking these toys look and feel like.
- Tell students they will be reading texts about slime and squish toys. Prompt them to think about how these foods are alike and different as they read.
- Preview the parallel structure of the texts. What do children notice about these two pages? (They are set up similarly. Each section has a heading. All the headings are the same.)
- Read “Slime Time!” and stop at the end of each section to check comprehension. Then read “Squish Toys!,” again stopping at the end of each section to check comprehension.
- For the second read-through, review the texts under the same headings back-to-back so children can focus on comparing and contrasting. Then discuss what was learned from each section.
- Compare the photos. What can children learn from them?
- To close, ask students to turn and talk about ways slime and squish toys are alike and different. You can also have a class vote to see which kind of toy students prefer.
After-Reading Skills Practice
- Skills: Sentence frames; compare/contrast; main idea (15 minutes)
Text-to-Speech