Reviews, Articles, & Curriculum Info

Problem: How can you make play dough?

Materials: water, flour, salt, vegetable oil, mixing bowl, spoon

What to do:
1) Have your children pour about 1 cup of water into a mixing bowl.
2) Each child should then add 1/3 cup of flour, 1/3 cup of salt and 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil to the water and mix thoroughly.

Results: Children have made a play dough that will last about a week if Stored in an airtight container. Refrigerating the play dough will keep it fresh longer. Questions to get them thinking: * What are the dry ingredients? Feel the dry ingredients and describe each one. *What are the wet ingredients? *Mix flour and salt together. Can you still feel each ingredient? * What happens to the dry ingredients when you add water? *Do the dry ingredients change? How? *What does the vegetable oil do? Make some without it to find out. * What would happen if you added a little more oil to the mixture?

Gak-gloop Recipe

1 cup white glue
1 cup water
Tempera or poster paint - your choice of color
Mix together.
In a separate measuring cup:
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon borax (in your grocery stores laundry soap shelves)
Dissolve borax in warm water. Stir rapidly for approx. 2 minutes
Enjoy!
 

Face Paint Recipe

2 tsp shortening
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tsp white flour
3 to 4 drops glycerin (avail at pharmacies)
food coloring
cold cream
cotton swabs

Thoroughly mix the shortening, cornstarch, and flour until it forms a paste. Add the glycerin and stir again until the mixture becomes smooth and spreadable. Add food coloring a drop at a time until you get the color you like.

For easy paint removal later, smooth a dab of cold cream on the child's face before painting. Use cotton swabs to create simple designs such as a sun, heart, football, daisy, or others. Home-made face paint washes off with soap and water.

 Sidewalk Chalk

SIDEWALK CHALK For sidewalk chalk-use 1 part plaster of paris, 1 part water. Add powdered or liquid tempra paint for colors. Pour into tubes - I use the cardboard toilet paper ones. (I think it takes about 1 cup of each for 1 toilet paper tube.) Sent in by Jean M.

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SUSPENDED SLIME

Problem: How can you make slime?
Materials: bowl, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1/4 cup water, food coloring.

What to do: 1) Measure 1/2 Cup of cornstarch and put it in the bowl.
2) Pour 1/4 cup of water into the cornstarch.
3) Stir and add food coloring until the mixture is paste-like.
4) Allow children to pick up the mixture with their hands.
5)Ask the children to make a ball of the mixture in their hands.
Watch the ball liquefy and change shape as the child holds it.
6) Direct children to wash their hands to remove food coloring.

Results: This mixture is very interesting. It looks like a liquid, yet you can pick it up with your hands. Just as it begins to look like a solid, it runs through your fingers. If you roll it into a ball, it looks dry. Let it sit in your hand and it gets wet.

Water Color Paint Recipe

Here something else for the kids,

1 tbs. vinegar
1 tbs. baking soda
few drops food color
4 tbs. cornstarch
1tbs. light corn syrup

Mix well & use with newspaper.