Colored Glue – Who Knew?
Howdy! So, I ran across this super cute idea for creating colored glue for painting glue pictures from Almost Unschoolers, so I HAD to try it for myself!
It turns out it was as easy as it looked – for real! I can see it being used in so many ways in the classroom from an art center to vocabulary work with painting to crafts for holidays!
The video below shows you how it’s done and how easy it was using materials you probably already have at home!
Prefer to read the transcript?
“Hi, everyone. Charity Preston here.
How are you today? Hopefully everything is going well. All right.
So today’s video is actually brought to you from an idea that I saw on a blog called Almost Unschoolers. It was really cool. I will include the link in my blog post.
And if you want to find my blog post, if you’re watching this on YouTube, straight down below in the description, the very first link will be my blog post link so that you can find it.
And the templates that I’m going to show you today as well.
This is a fun little craft activity that was so simple. I’m sure other people have thought of it. Elmer’s also has made something similar to it, but last time I checked, they don’t sell it any longer.
Basically all you’re going to do is take basic Elmer’s white glue and you are going to add food coloring.
And this is what you get.
You get colored glue! It’s colored glue that goes on like white glue, but that dries in colors.
You might want to check out:
Need some new ideas for classroom decor and instructional materials in the classroom you can make yourself? This 175 page digital book has you covered!
Includes 25 articles from Organized Classroom, including topics such as:
- Make Your Own Library Organization Reshelving System
- A Super Fun Spin-the-Wheel Classroom Mgmt Solution
- Simple Chair Pockets
- An Easy Option for Ditching Your Desk
- DIY Classroom Mailboxes
- Cute Student Birthday Snacks
- Creating Absent Work Clips
…and even more!
Includes 11 additional freebie files! No need to enter in an email address for each one separately – just click and go!
It’s so, so simple guys. You seriously have no idea.
You just open up your white glue, pop the top open, and mix in whatever colors that you want.
That would be a great lesson in itself, just color mixing. And then you put the cap back on.
I shake it up just a little to blend a little better.
One other quick note: You probably want to make sure your bottle is at least half full or mine was about three quarters full.
You don’t want a brand new bottle because it’s not going to have a lot of movement in there and you want it to be able to move around.
Ok, once your color is added, shake it up just a tad, and put it into a cup just like this upside down for an hour or so.
Turn it around back to right side up for another hour or so again.
I would say give it a day. That way you know that it’s very well mixed up.
In fact, my red came out more pink at first than red, so I had to keep adding red. I actually ended up adding whole lot.
The yellow did not take very much at all in the orange blend. I definitely had to have more yellow than red in there. So you might have to play around with the colors to create what you want.
But anyway, now the glue is basically paint. It’s fantastic.
Instead of using it just like regular glue, you’re going to use it in the classroom as paint.
Here’s my example of how to use it. I have a paper with a fall poem. And then at the bottom I put a tree and made little glue dots of the different fall colors to represent the leaves.
Now I will tell you that when I first did it, they were very bright, vibrant, bright colors.
They definitely dulled overnight after it dried. Now, they’re almost pearlized, I guess that’s probably the word I’m looking for.
Some of the colors actually ran together, but I think it was because it was on this dark construction paper.
So if you want them to stay bright like this, I would suggest using white construction paper or a brighter color.
It’s really a lot of fun. And you have a bonus! If it gets on clothes, it should just wash out.
I don’t THINK the food coloring would stain, but don’t quote me on that. Maybe it will.
So be careful with it, but keep in mind, it’s just glue.
What if you have glue eaters? Not that you want them to eat it, but of course, if they do, it’s non-toxic so that’s a good thing.
Students can customize their poems too. There are three blanks on this template. “So the leaves are perfect for blank, blank, and blank.”
They can do the writing and then design a picture with the glue after that.
This could also be fun for a Christmas project. Or just for an activity day/center.
Set it out there and let see what they come up with. Maybe birthday cards? Really anything that you have coming up.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s fun tip.”
In the video, I also mention two free poem templates, which you can grab below. Have fun!
What will you use colored glue for in your classroom? I would love to hear a comment below.
~Charity
