NEW YORK CITY -- Hallelujah, it's rainin' slime in New York City!
A new sensory playground all about SLIME is here... Sloomoo Institute is an artistic universe made to intrigue, delight, and evoke your inner child!
"Usually parents say 'I'm not going to touch the slime, I'm just here for the kids' and the next thing we know they are elbow deep in slime with a huge smile on their face," said Co-founder, Sara Schiller. "You don't think of what to do with slime... until you're making 600 gallons a day!"
Slime inspires wonder and joy, regardless of age. More than a childhood memory or a satisfying social media trend, slime is artful, oozy fun.
"It makes noises as you play with it. Pop it. Stretch it. Crunch it," said Co-founder, Karen Robinovitz "Parents are saying to us 'I'm having more fun than my child."
Even more than fun, slime is known to support stress relief as much as it does your imagination.
Founders Karen and Sara came up with the concept during a difficult time in Karen's life. Karen was dealing with loss and grieving. Life was very stressful when her friends came to visit her with their 10-year-old daughter, Mattie. Mattie happened to have the ingredients for slime with her. Karen ended up playing with the slime... for hours.
"There were a few hours where I wasn't in my grief and I thought... I need more," said Karen. Karen then approached Co-founder, Sara Schiller, about making this experience around slime.
"I knew that slime was great for kids, but I didn't understand the extensive embracement that had happened with adults around slime," said Sara.
They hit the slime trade show circuit and were surprised by the open-minded, inclusionary nature of the slime community. Thousands of slimes, brainstorms, and experiments later, they launched Sloomoo Institute.
When you enter Sloomoo Insitute, was this colorful hallway, which details the history of slime. Slime dates back to the 1830s when polymer science was first discovered. In 2016, the goopy material suddenly began to grow in popularity. By 2017, slime had become a social-media sensation, and craft stores were struggling to keep bottles of glue on the shelves!
"When we get our delivery from Elmer's, it's eight pellets of glue," said Sara. "We slide it all down into our 4,000 square foot slime kitchen."
Slime involves touch, sound, and scent!
At Sloomoo Institute, there are endless vats full of slime to play with, as well as an immersive ASMR tunnel. If you don't know what ASMR is, it stands for 'autonomous sensory meridian response', a.k.a. the relaxing, soothing feeling you get from visual and audio stimuli. Slime has been known to offer a sense of stress relief and mindfulness; many say it helps ease anxiety.
Among all of the fun, colorful attractions, there is a glow-in-the-dark cove, an EEG machine to show your brain 'on slime', create a fun video with their own slime in the 'Slootoob', and a 150-foot long DIY bar to design your dream slime. Visitors will choose a base, scent, and color when making their own slime!
The showstopper of the museum is 'Sloomoo Falls', where guests can volunteer to be covered in slime. Seriously. You can put on a poncho as the slime comes pouring down!
"Now I feel like we're bringing happiness to other people," said Karen. "I know we are doing something good in the world."
Sloomoo Institute is located at 475 Broadway and will be open daily from 9 am-9 pm EST from now until April 2020. Tickets are $38 and include an 8-ounce custom slime and other fun trinkets. Learn more at sloomooinstitute.com.