Longboat kid has slime of her life with unique hobby

Some kids let their creativity shine on the dance floor.

Others in art class, or by playing an instrument.

But Addison Riesen, who does do performing arts, has another outlet.

Riesen, a 9-year-old Longboat Key resident, loves to make slime.

As she walks across her family’s living room in their Country Club Shores home, she proudly opens a set of double doors.

“This is my slime room.”  

One of the first eye-catching items in her work spot is a sign: “Have the slime of your life.”

She has a whole workstation complete with shelves of slime materials. She has a shelf full of glue and activators — hand soap, Borax, Tide, Sta- Flo — stuff that won’t make the slime sticky. Then she has a box of add-ins, such as glitter and beads that she can mix in the slime for some extra fun — but careful of the chunky glitter, she said. It can get pointy.

To the right of her little desk are bins full of slime she’s created, bought, and traded because right now, slime is big.

It’s such a trend that in March, Riesen and her mom, Jorie, visited Chicago for a slime convention.

Riesen got to meet other “slimers,” including some Instagram-famous ones, who make themed slimes, such as Chinese food ones that smell like fortune cookies, wonton soup and fried rice.

Riesen makes slime for fun, not business, so she was just a visitor at the convention. But that meant she had the chance to trade her slimes for some other ones at a trading post, where her mom taught negotiation skills.

Asked if she would ever sell her slime, Riesen is apprehensive to do so right now.

She has an Instagram account, on which she features her slime, but also uses it to share her adventures. She also said that if she started to sell it, it would take time away from play dates, or slime dates, which is when she teaches friends how to make slime, and she needs that time to socialize.

“I need to interact with humans,” she said. “I need to be with humans 24/7.”

Jorie Riesen said throughout these play dates, Addison has become a slime advocate for her friends with parents who oppose slime and its potential messes.

Addison said she makes slime every other day. She can make it quickly, a basic slime can take her two minutes, which is her favorite kind to make. 

All it takes is glue, some color and an activator. She mixes the ingredients until she has the consistency she likes.

“I kind of like making basic slime because it reminds me of the good old days,” she said.

The good old days to which she refers are when her grandma, a former preschool teacher who often made “goop” with her students, would visit.

It’s a tradition she’s carried on.