Walking into the second Slime Club meeting during tutorial on Sept. 24, the student center is packed with students huddled around tables. At the front of the room are boxes with slime containers a quarter filled with white glue. On each table stands a big bowl of instant snow and two bottles of activator, made from borax powder dissolved in water. The activator and slime containers are both branded with a pink, pastel Slime Club sticker.
The club is led by senior president Rylee Stanton, junior vice president Nila Venkataratnam, senior secretary Annaliese Shab, senior treasurer Anisa Taymuree and junior fundraising coordinator Mahika Garlapati. It holds meetings every Blue Day Tuesday in the student center. Stanton was motivated to start the club at school after she encountered a friend at a summer camp who successfully started a popular Slime Club at her own school.
Slime Club made its debut on Instagram, introducing the officers in a post on Aug. 22. During Club Rush in August, the club handed out 2-ounce slimes, which Venkataratnam believes was a big hit in garnering interest for the club, as 106 students responded to their interest form.
“Club Rush was definitely a success,” Venkataratnam said. “The idea of having a slime club probably appealed to a lot of people because slime is something everyone enjoys to make.”
Meetings are where all the sticky fun begins. All materials, including bowls, glue, coloring and slime containers are provided by the officers, so all members have to do is show up and make slime. Their first meeting on Sept. 12 drew over 60 members into the student center to make crunchy slime — a variation with small foam beads.
Since each meeting focuses on a specific type of slime, the officers set up polls on the club’s Instagram stories to determine what texture of slime to make the next meeting — which, for the one on Sept. 24 was cloud slime. On their website, Slime Club has a meeting RSVP form for anyone interested in participating during lunch. They use the number of sign ups to form an estimate of the number of supplies to buy.
Taymuree has been pleasantly surprised with the popularity of the club so far.
“Club Rush is iconic for people signing up [for the clubs] but not actually coming to the meetings. But 66 people came, which was shocking,” Taymuree said. “We were only expecting maybe 30 people, but the amount of members that signed up from Club Rush actually isn’t too far off from how many actively attend meetings.”
Although slime is mainly seen as a once-trendy toy for kids, proponents say it also offers numerous benefits for all ages. Slime works as a stress toy that decreases symptoms of anxiety, as squishing, poking and stretching slime helps release tension. When school becomes overwhelming, playing with slime can also be calming — intensifying focus by engaging the senses. Junior Ava Cai, who attended both of Slime Club’s first two meetings, joined to rekindle the comfort slime gave her in her childhood, and really enjoys it.
“It’s really de-stressing, and I’m not surprised so many people came. Everyone likes slime, and making it together allows everyone to bond and get closer,” Cai said.
The club is currently collaborating with assistant principal Matthew Torrens on a partnership with the special education program and the Wellness Center.
“We want to host workshops with their students to utilize the sensory benefits of slime,” Stanton said.
In order to cover the growing costs of supplies at their meetings, Slime Club has been hosting fundraisers after school, including a Tpumps bubble tea and a Crumbl cookie fundraiser. The boba fundraiser made a profit of $65, which was lower than expected because of some damaged packaging.
The start-up costs to buy packaging, glue, borax, and slime add-ins for the first two meetings totaled up to around $170. Donations of glue supplies from members and a potential partnership with the Community-Based Instruction (CBI) program for reimbursement will alleviate some of the burden of these costs.
Taymuree is proud that Slime Club offers students a place to take a break from school and destress. Contrary to some academic-based clubs, Slime Club’s main goal is for students to hang out and have fun together.
“It is also important to nurture your mind, and that includes taking a break; we provide that in Slime Club, giving the sensory stimulation SHS students need to destress,” Taymuree said.