Simple Sensory Fun & Messy Play with Zimpli Kids

Have you tried Slime Baff or Gelli Baff? My 6 year old is such a sensory seeker he absolutely loves messy play and it keeps him busy for ages (which keeps me happy).

Zimpli Kids kindly sent us some Slime Baff, Gelli Baff and Gelli Play to try out and review. All words and opinions are my own.

The Slime Baff and Gelli Baff can be used in the bath or a sensory tray whilst the Gelli play is a bit smaller so better to be used in a bowl. It comes in coloured sachets of powder that just need to be added to water.  The Gelli Baff also comes with a sachet to dissolve it when finished.

Having a Slime Baff / Bath

The first one we tried out was the Gunky Green Slime Baff. It was really easy I started to fill the bath with warm water and added the sprinkles as it was still running. It turned gooey and slimy very quickly and the bath was probably just over 1/3rd full.

It wasn’t thick but was liquid goo which is perfect for a bath really.

My 4 year old is not massive on messy play and often takes ages to engage with it. He is however a big water play fan. As soon as he saw the green bath he was taking his clothes off and shouting ‘slime bath’ at the top of his voice. I was surprised how animated he was, as he had a cold and had been feeling very sorry for himself for the past couple of days.

My 6 year old on the other hand was not sure and certainly not keen on the idea of jumping in like his brother. He struggles with new things as he needs processing time and the idea that you can have a green bath was new to him. We put some of the Slime Baff in the sink for him to play with and get used to the texture first. After about 10 minutes he joined his brother in the bath.

What does Slime Baff feel like?

Whilst it is still liquid the Sime Baff has a very gooey oozy and gloopy texture. It was great for pouring and running through your hands.

The boys loved making the slime trails as they lifted their hands in and out of the water. Both of the boys really enjoyed the Slime Baff, my youngest was in his element and stayed in for around 45 minutes. My eldest probably preferred playing with it with his hands in the sink than in the bath.

I was a bit apprehensive about my youngest as he has very sensitive skin and eczema and can flare up with just plain water sometimes. I was really surprised that his skin was totally fine after the bath and his eczema under his arms had even calmed a bit and it seemed to have been soothed a little by the Slime Baff.

The kids did get really slippery covered in the goo so we had to be next to them. When we were finished we added more water to the bath and as it diluted the Slime Baff it easily drained away. There were no marks or stains on anything. We kept the kids in the bath as they needed a good wash to get the Slime Baff off. I wasn’t sure about giving the kids the Slime Baff in the bath but actually it made it so much easier to clean up.

Blue Lagoon Gelli Baff

The Gelli Baff is just as simple to make by sprinkling the powder into water. It is so quick to turn from liquid into a more solid globular texture almost like semolina, just a couple of minutes and it was ready. This is much thicker than the Slim Baff however it gets thinner the more water you add so you can play around to find the texture that’s right for your kids if necessary.

Gelli Baff in the Bath

We tried out the Gelli Baff in the bath with my nieces and they thought it was amazing. My 5 year old niece was thrilled and thought it was ‘very squidgy’. My 4 year old niece said it was ‘fun and tickly’ and she felt like she was swimming in the sea.

Gelli Baff in a Sensory Tray

For the boys we decided to try the Gelli Baff in a tray on the table. My eldest absolutely loved this, he was straight in there smushing it around the tray and through his hands.

My youngest had a go but wasn’t particularly interested at first. We added some bath toys and shells to the tray, hiding them in the Gelli Baff. My eldest had so much fun and spent ages finding the items and hiding them again. He also really enjoyed pushing his hands down into the Gelli Baff.

Lava Blast Red Gelli Play

The Gelli Play was a great colour, we decided to make this one up in a washing up bowl and again added some toys to it.

Mixing the Gelli Baff and Gelli Play

It wasn’t long before my eldest decided to add the Gelli Baff and Gelli Play together and they seemed to mix together just fine.

Letter tray messy play

It was being a little dominated by my eldest on the table so I moved it down onto a tuff tray on the floor. I also added my 4 year old’s favourite things – letters.

This did the trick and my youngest joined in.

Very Messy Play

It did then start to get a bit messier but you can’t really have messy play without mess.

It did take me a while to get it all cleaned up but it was easy enough. The kids had been occupied for the whole afternoon with Gelli Baff & Gelli Play, so 20-30 mins cleaning up for a whole afternoon isn’t really a big deal. I took the heavy tray up to the bath and added the dissolver powder. I left it for a couple of minutes and when I went back it was liquid again. It was easy to pour down the bath with some extra water.

Is it Environmentally Friendly?

My Dad was concerned about us washing it down the bath, was it environmentally safe? So we looked into it and it is biodegradable you can find more information about testing and safety on the Zimpli Kids website.

What did I think

I was definitely a bit apprehensive about the products and I’m not the biggest fan of mess. However the kids really loved the products and I was impressed and will be using them again in the future. They are brilliant for sensory play and experiencing new textures.

I think they are great value for money given how much fun the kids had. They would also make great gifts. The links below are affiliate links which means I may recieve a small commission if you purchase from these links. This is at no additional cost to you but it does support my blog.

Have you tried any of the Zimpli Kids products? Let me know what you think in the comments.