Things to do at the Sloomoo Institute in Chicago

[Reading time: 7 mins]

The Slime Museum where you let someone else deal with the mess!

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely hate playing with slime in our home! Even if you use a tray and cover the tables and your kid’s clothes, the anxiety of the mess that *could* happen, is never worth it to me! So what’s the next best thing? The Sloomoo Institute in Chicago! Bring your kids to this immersive and interactive slime museum, where they’re free to explore and make a mess.

Things to know:

• The Sloomoo Institute is located at
  820 N Orleans St, Chicago 60610

• At the time of this writing, admission to the museum is $39pp

• Under 24 months old is FREE

• Average spend time is 1-1.5 hrs

Photo via sloomooinstitute.com

Buying your tickets

Visitors to the Sloomoo Institute in Chicago are required to purchase tickets in advance online. General admission to the slime museum includes entry into the immersive experience and a DIY customized 8oz container of slime.

Buying the tickets online is pretty simple- you can see all the available dates and times that the Sloomoo Institute is open and compare it to your own schedule.

For an additional fee, upgrade to the Enhanced Experience where you will get slimed at Sloomoo Falls! Sloomoo Falls is for ages 5 & up, but don’t worry, if there are some in your group that don’t want to experience it, it is easy to watch the action from the sidelines.

Sloomoo Institute in Chicago, Enhanced Experience

Checking in

When you arrive at the Sloomoo Institute, you will check in at the front desk. One of my favorite things about it is that you can also check in all your belongings free of charge and it’s placed in a large bag behind the desk so everything is secure! Once you are all checked in, just wait at the double doors and they will let you know when to go. There is also a small gift shop you can walk around in, while you wait.

The Sloomoo Experience

When you walk through the double doors, you will be taken to a short video where they will explain the history of Sloomoo Institute. Listen carefully, because it will explain to you what your Slime Name is!

Ok, I’ll just tell you: replace any vowels in your name with “oo”, and that’s your Slime Name! We all had a huge kick out of my son’s Slime Name. HINT: His real name is Tate!

The Slime Vats

After writing out your Slime Name on your name tag and walking past [and touching!] the huge slime wall, the room will open up into a large space of over 30 vats of slime. Each one has a vibrant color, different textures and interesting scents! Who would have thought there could be so many different kinds of slime?!

My recommendations for going through the slime vats:

• Use the hand sanitizer between every vat you go to. This will help keep the slime [and your hands!] clean throughout.

• By all means, touch and feel all the slime, but maybe don’t put your entire hand into the vat…. if you stick your hand all the way down through the slime, you risk getting it stuck all over your hands; my husband learned this the hard way! But please don’t let that scare you from feeling the slime at all - touching all the different textures is all part of the experience! It’s so interesting how different they can feel from each other and you can still explore it by kneading and grabbing onto the slime.

• Take your time through this area! There is so much to see and do at Sloomoo, but this is really your only chance to truly get your hands completely immersed into it all.

In this area of the slime museum, there are also a couple of interactive rooms you can go in and also a slime slingshot!

Sloomoo Obstacle Course

Next, make your way to the obstacle course. It’s small, but your kids will have a blast running through the slime, dodging the ropes and making it to the slime pool at the end. You have to go barefoot, but don’t worry, they require that everyone cleans their feet with the provided wipes, before entering the course.

Time to make your own slime!

This is the best way to end the whole experience. Now you get to make your own slime and choose all the ingredients that make it!

1. Start with the base - there are a few different ones to choose from and each has a description of it’s texture and tenacity: stretchy, fluffy, crunchy, icy, etc.

2. Next, you get to pick your scent. There are 2 long walls lined up with fragrances to choose from and you can mix & match! They had more traditional scents like birthday cake, strawberry and chocolate, to more unique ones like baked bread, ginger ale and popcorn.

3. Now you get to choose your color. With another plethora of options to choose from, your slime will have so much vibrancy to it!

4. Add some cute charms to your slime! This was a nice surprise and added touch at the end - the kids loved the cute options, and you get to choose up to three.

5. Lastly, it’s all ready to mix up. Just knead all the ingredients together and you’ll soon have your final product!

Is it worth it?

This is always a hard question to answer.

At $39 per person, for a family of 4, you’re looking at spending $160 for a 1-1.5hr experience. That’s a lot of money. But if you’ve already come to terms with that and you’re comparing other immersive experiences, then Sloomoo Institute in Chicago is worth it! There is so much slime & sensory items to interact with and there is a good amount of slime to take home; it’s sure to be an experience that your kids will enjoy and have fond memories of.

*All opinions in this blog post are my own and I received no incentive
*All photos & video on this blog post are owned by Kristel at On the Go with 4 Kids in Tow