Gooey Glue Putty 1 – The quickest & easiest glue putty
Ingredients:- Elmer's Glue-all
- liquid starch (found on the laudry detergent isle)
- food coloring (optional)
- mixing bowl
- something to stir with
- zipper bag or lidded, plastic storage container
Combine equal parts glue and liquid starch. One easy way to do this is to dump one bottle of glue into a bowl, then refill the glue bottle with starch and dump the starch into the bowl. Add a tiny bit more starch, so that you have a little more starch than glue. Stir gently to mix. Remove the putty from the bowl, allowing extra starch to drip off. Fold and knead to an even consistency. If the putty is sticky, add more starch. If it is stringy, you probably used little too much starch; the putty will still be fun, but try adding a little less next time! Food coloring can be folded in by spreading the glob of putty, adding a few drops of putty, folding the putty over to cover the food coloring, and then folding and squeezing to mix. Putty will keep in a zipper bag for several weeks.
Tips & hints:
Do not place the putty on fabric or carpet. If it happens to get into a child’s clothing, rinse well in very hot water to remove. Try using the putty with a rolling pin, a dough extruder, butter knives, various small containers, and even a colander. How is the putty like playdough? How is it different? Can you figure out how to use a small hand pump (such as a balloon pump or a portable bike pump) to make a putty bubble?
Gooey Glue Putty 2
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. bottle Elmer’s Glue-All White Glue (not washable school glue!)
- Borax powder (found on the laundry detergent isle)
- warm water
- food coloring (optional)
- mixing bowl
- something to stir with
- plastic cup
- zipper bag or lidded, plastic storage container
Cornstarch Goop
Ingredients:
- cornstarch
- water
- bucket, bowl, or pother mixing container
- mess-friendly place to work, such as outside
- smocks or old play clothes
Empty about ¼ box of cornstarch into a large mixing container. Add about ½ C. water and stir. Slowly add more cornstarch and more water until you have a liquid mixture that is thicker than honey and does not stir easily. It takes a little experimenting to get it right, but you will hopefully end up with an amazing “non-Newtonian fluid”. What makes it so amazing? Move it quickly, by stirring vigorously, rolling a bit of goop into a ball, etc., and it acts like a solid. Move it slowly, and it acts like a liquid. Try slapping it with your hand, or rolling a small ball to throw against the ground. What happens?
Tips and hints:
This is a great experiment to do when you can hose the children down afterwards! The goop will not stain clothes, but it will clog drains! Have kiddos rinse the excess goop off their hands with a hose or bucket of water before washing at the sink, and do NOT pour your leftover goop down a drain! Goop can be stored for several days in a lidded plastic container; just add a little more water if needed. If you accidently add too much water to your goop, just leave it uncovered for several hours or overnight to allow some of the excess water to evaporate. Can older kids figure out what “Non-Newtonian” means? (Hint: it has to do with viscosity!) And, how is goop similar to quick sand?