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August 16, 2011 | 14 Comments

Art Exploration With Colored Glue

My son loves creating with glue, and lately color mixing has become a popular request for art time so yesterday I decided to mix the two with a super simple activity that focuses on process not product.  I have colored glue before but never in the bottles, as you will see it minimizes the mess for the project but it didn’t minimize it for the prep. I have a few tips for prep so you can skip the multi colored hands I am sporting today. This is also the perfect time of year for a project

  1. Gather your materials. You will need some white glue, food color and paper. My son chose black paper which depending on your child will be super cool or horribly disappointing. When the glue is dry you will see almost no color if you use black. We were focusing on the process so black was fine. I included a version made on orange paper below to see the results on lighter paper.
  2. Start by protecting your table, colored glue can be a bug to get off.  I made a simple mat from a brown paper grocery bag, and attached it to the table top with painters tape.
  3. Make your colored glue. Starting with glue bottles that are not full. I thought this was enough space but when I do this again I am going to use half full bottles.
  4. Add your food color. Here is where I messed up. I treated the glue like water expecting the food color to incorporate easily but of course it just sits on top. You need to mix it, add more, mix than add more.  If you don’t when you turn them upside down ( tip – do not turn it upside down until well mixed) the food color will dribble out and make a huge mess.
  5. And while panic mounts and you clean up your hands will end up like this.
  6. Instead use only half a bottle of glue and a chopstick(or kabob skewer) to mix. Adding a small amount at a time until it’s the color you want.
  7. Time to invite the small ones to explore. No instructions, just have fun.
  8. He mixed colors.
  9. Loved the vibrant colors, my blue stained hands were totally worth it.
  10. Dry .As you can imagine it doesn’t show up well on black. My son exclaimed “It’s spy glue!” It also takes a long time to dry- so find a good place for it to sit for a full day. 
  11. This is a quick design I made on orange paper and let dry, the glossy colors are so fun!

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Toddlers, Color mixing, Color recognition, Colored Glue, Preschool Crafts | 14 Comments

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14 Comments

  1. Open Your World Book Reviews says

    August 16, 2011 at 4:32 am

    yep colored glue is a pain to make but looks so pretty when dry!

    love the spy glue comment 🙂

    to Open Your World Book Reviews" aria-label='reply to this comment to Open Your World Book Reviews'>reply to this comment
  2. Time for Play says

    August 16, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    We love colored glue. We have never had a mess making it, now using it is a different story. Here is what we did with it just the other day….http://4herreras.blogspot.com/2011/08/colored-glue-suncatchers.html.

    to Time for Play" aria-label='reply to this comment to Time for Play'>reply to this comment
  3. Natalie says

    August 16, 2011 at 9:42 pm

    Thanks for all the tips. We haven’t tried colored glue yet, but it looks like it’s something worth a try.

    to Natalie" aria-label='reply to this comment to Natalie'>reply to this comment
  4. Amber says

    August 21, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    We finally got out the old glue and colored it. I had washable watercolor in powder form from Oriental Trading Company so I used that to color the glue. The colors were vibrant and it didn’t stain the fingers 🙂 We’ve been painting glue on various art projects then covering with white/iridescent glitter. Sammi loves it!

    to Amber" aria-label='reply to this comment to Amber'>reply to this comment
  5. admin says

    August 21, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    Great to know that it works . My paint always made it too pastel so I’ve always stuck with the stain inducing food color. I hope Sammi is well 🙂

    to admin" aria-label='reply to this comment to admin'>reply to this comment
  6. Laina says

    September 10, 2011 at 1:41 am

    Oh, I meant to say this a while ago… I don’t know about the coloured glue because of the food colouring, but regular glue comes off really well with Mr. Clean disinfecting spray. I use it at work (I do storytime at my library) and never have a problem. And sometimes my tables have GIANT globs of glue. You just have to let it sit for a minute.

    Have you ever tried tempera paint powder? I wonder if that would make the colours more vivid.

    to Laina" aria-label='reply to this comment to Laina'>reply to this comment
  7. Laina says

    September 10, 2011 at 1:42 am

    Oh, also! I wonder, if you did this on waxed paper or plastic wrap, could you possibly peel it off? That would be awesome.

    to Laina" aria-label='reply to this comment to Laina'>reply to this comment
  8. Marzee Carnes says

    April 14, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    I wonder how this would work with paste food coloring?

    to Marzee Carnes" aria-label='reply to this comment to Marzee Carnes'>reply to this comment
    • admin says

      April 14, 2012 at 2:31 pm

      Oh we should try it and find out !

      to admin" aria-label='reply to this comment to admin'>reply to this comment
  9. Sam says

    June 5, 2014 at 10:06 am

    Hi, I love your ideas and have been following them for last 2 months. My daughter who is now 22 months waits for our morning and afternoon activity of the day!My toddler loves sparkles so we also added different color sparkles to each bottle. In addition I used thicker white glue so that it gives a 3d effect of drying and use it as a page for her sensory book (used while driving or in restaurants). Thanks again!

    to Sam" aria-label='reply to this comment to Sam'>reply to this comment
  10. Jeanine says

    December 6, 2015 at 4:21 am

    I always use old markers to make colored glue. Just use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the end of the marker and pull out the inside. No need to remove the film covering. Then simply insert it into the glue and wait a week or so. I usually make several different colored bottles at the end of the school year and they are very vividly colored when I return in the fall.

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Trackbacks

  1. CraftCrave | Blog | Textual List: Wednesday, 17 Aug 2011 says:
    August 17, 2011 at 1:28 am

    […] Art Exploration With Colored Glue – 1 freebie(s)? […]

    to CraftCrave | Blog | Textual List: Wednesday, 17 Aug 2011" aria-label='reply to this comment to CraftCrave | Blog | Textual List: Wednesday, 17 Aug 2011'>reply to this comment
  2. Classic Craft & Epic Mess - No Time For Flash Cards says:
    May 18, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    […] stops what he is doing to watch them flutter by. This is a classic kids craft but by using the colored glue we made and glitter it’s a little special even for a jaded crafter like my son . I like how the […]

    to Classic Craft & Epic Mess - No Time For Flash Cards" aria-label='reply to this comment to Classic Craft & Epic Mess - No Time For Flash Cards'>reply to this comment
  3. Rainy Day Activities – My Blog says:
    February 4, 2016 at 4:53 pm

    […] 3-D Colored Glue Art from No Time For Flashcards […]

    to Rainy Day Activities – My Blog" aria-label='reply to this comment to Rainy Day Activities – My Blog'>reply to this comment

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