Wild Science Weird Slime Laboratory
It's slimy, oozy, bouncy, and runny. It's neon yellow, neon  orange, or red as blood (or no color at all). It could earn high marks  on a gross-o-meter or pose as a phony superball. Of course your  9-year-old is going to love it! We could tell you that it's a simple science  kit for introducing crossbonding polymers, exploring gels, solids,  liquids, and diffusion in solutions--but that might make it boring. And  boring it ain't! Oozology is another of Wild Science's fun, open-ended, easy-to-clean-up  kits geared towards creative kids and parents who want them to explore  the world but not blow it up in the process. So what's a polymer?  RememberFlubber? Unlike Robin Williams's creation, this stuff  won't make you a basketball star--but it's a riot to play with.  Everything you need to make several batches of it is packaged in a  clear carrying case. Put on the gloves and mask (included in the kit),  add water, and mix together in your chosen color and consistency. Make  a "drip-o-later" or a "snapping oozewurst"; try out a "slimemold"!  Double-sided jelly-proof experiment cards are fairly open-ended; just  be sure to readbothsides of each card when following the  instructions. There are fun suggestions for all kinds of experiments  (plus a bag of wiggly eyeballs to enliven things). The ideas are  presented in such a way that when your kid meets them again in science  lab at school, he or she will probably recognize them as old friends.--Julie Ubben