Friday, June 10, 2011

Cool Crayons

from The Ultimate Book of Kid's Concoctions

broken crayons
heavy paper cups
assorted candy molds
oven mitt

1. Remove all paper from crayons and sort by color in heavy cups.
2. Place one cup of crayons in microwave. Cook on high 4-6 minutes or until the crayons are completely melted.
3. Using an oven mitt, have an adult carefully pour the melted crayon wax into the molds. Throw the used paper cup away.
4. Place the candy molds in the freezer for 20 minutes until the wax is hard.
5. Pop Cool Crayons out of molds and color.

Crystal Rock Garden

from Ultimate Book of Kid's Concoctions

1 small sponge
4 T salt
2 T water
2 T liquid bluing
food coloring
rubber glove

1. Cut a sponge into several small pieces. Place sponge pieces into a small plastic or glass bowl.
2. Put on rubber gloves, sprinkle 2 T salt, water, and liquid bluing over the sponge pieces. Allow the concoction to set for 24 hours.
3. Sprinkle the remaining 2 T salt over the sponge pieces. Allow the concoction to set for an additional 24 hours.
4. Repeat step 2. Then add a few drops of food coloring to each sponge piece. By this time your crystal flower garden should be starting to bloom.

You can use cotton balls, coals, or porous brick pieces in place of a sponge to create your Crystal Rock Garden.

Garden Stones

old bucket
8 c quick-setting cement
water
shallow cardboard box (11"x16" is best)
stick or wooden spoon
ruler

1. Mix cement and 2 c of water together in a bucket until the mixture is the consistency of oatmeal. Add more cement or water if necessary.
2. Pour the mixture evenly into the cardboard box. Your cement should be at least 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.
3. Take and old ruler and rake across the top of the cement until smooth. Wait 5 minutes.
4. Place your hands or feet into the wet cement and push down 1-2 inches to make your impression. Immediately rinse your hands/ feet with water.
5. Use a stick or pencil to write your name, age, or date in cement.
6. Let the cement dry 48 hours. Tear away the cardboard box and place your stone in your backyard or garden.

NOTE-Personalize your stone by adding seashells, toys, marbles, coins, dominoes, jewels, etc...

Spray Chalk

from The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

4 T cornstarch
1 c warm water
4-6 drops food coloring
1 small plant mister

1. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.
2. Pour the spray chalk mixture into a small plant mister. Shake and spray.
3. Avoid clogging by shaking the plant mister before each use.

3-D Puffy Sand

from The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

1/3 c flour
1/3 c water
1/3 c salt
2 1/2 T tempera paint
1/2 T sand
Plastic squeeze bottle

1. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Add water and tempera paint. Mix until well blended.
3. Carefully pour the mixture into a plastic squeeze bottle.
4. Let finished paintings dry 24 hours or until hard.

Place 3-D Puffy Sand into a cake-decorating bag and use different tips to create cool effects and textures.

Sand Castle Clay

from The Ultimate Book of Kid's Concoctions
You can create sand castles and sand sculptures that are permanent.

1 cup sand
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup liquid starch
old pot



Steps:
1. Combine sand and cornstarch in an old pot.
2. Add liquid starch and mix.
3. Cook the mixture over medium heat while stirring constantly. Eventually, the mixture will thicken and turn to dough.
4. Remove the pot from the stove and let the clay cool.
5. Remove clay from the pot and knead it for 20 to 30 seconds before using.

Jewel & Gem Goop

From The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

1/2 c white glue
2 c rock salt
6-8 drops food coloring

1. Mix rock salt and food coloring together. Add glue and continue mixing for 2-3 minutes.
2. Mold and sculpt Jewel & Gem Goop, using your hands.
3. Place Jewel & Gem sculptures on a piece of cardboard to dry. Drying time will vary depending on size and thickness of your creation.

I haven't made this yet, but I found this blog where someone else has.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Cotton Clay

From The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

3 c cotton balls
2 c water
2/3 c flour
5-7 drops food coloring

1. Tear cotton balls apart into small pieces. Mix water and cotton together in a medium saucepan.
2. Slowly stir in flour. Continue stirring and cook over low heat for 5-7 minutes until the mixture begins to stiffen.
3. Remove saucepan from heat and place the Cotton Clay on a thick cloth towel or several layers of paper towels to cool.
4. Allow Cotton Clay sculptures to dry 24 hours or until hard.

Instant Finger Paints

from The Ultimate Book of Kid's Concoctions

1/4 c liquid starch
1 T powdered tempera paint
Freezer paper (paint on shiny side)

1. Pour liquid starch and tempera into a small bowl.
2. Mix until well blended.
3. Use plastic margarine tubs with lids to store finger paints for future use.

For more "Fun with Kids" click here.

Magic Bubble Paint

from Ultimate Book of Kid's Concoctions

2 t clear liquid dish detergent
3 T water
1/4 c powdered tempera paint
straw

1. Mix cleardish detergent, water, and powdered tempera together in a small, shallow bowl. If you are using a concentrated dish detergent, 1-2 more T of water may be necessary.
2. Using a straw, gently blow into the paint mixture until a dome of bubbles forms.
3. Capture bubble prints by placing a piece of paper on top of bubble dome.
4. Repeat the process, using several different colors of bubble paint.

For more "Fun with Kids", click here.

Invisible Ink

from Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

2 T pure lemon juice
cotton swab

1. Pour lemon juice into a small glass or plastic dish.
2. Soak one end of the cotton swab in the lemon juice.
3. Use the lemon soaked end to write a secret message or draw a picture on a sheet of paper.
4. When you are ready to view your secret message, have an adult hold the sheet of paper near a light bulb or over a toaster. The heat source will slowly turn the lemon juice dark brown and reveal the message.

For more fun ideas with kids, scroll down and find "fun with kids" on the right hand side.

"Funny" Putty

from Ultimate Book of Kid's Concoctions

1 T liquid starch
2-3 drops food coloring
2 T white glue

1. Mix white glue and food coloring together in a small bowl.
2. Pour liquid starch into a second small bowl. Slowly pour the glue mixture on top of the liquid startch.
3. Allow the concoction to stand for 5 minutesor until the glue absorbs the liquid starch.
4. Remove putty from bowl and knead. (Note: At first this mixture may look as if it's a mistake, but it isn't. The more you knead the putty, the better the consistency will be.)
5. Store funny putty in a plastic Easter egg or plastic bag.

-Press putty down on newspaper comics or pictures printed with an ink jet printer. Slowly pull the putty off the paper. The picture will transfer onto the putty.




For more fun concoctions, go to the label "fun with kids" in the right hand column.

Bathtub Finger Paints

from Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

1/3 cup clear, mild liqid dish detergent
1 T cornstarch
food coloring

1. Mix liquid dish detergent and cornstarch together in a small bowl until blended.
2. Pour the mixture in equal parts, into several sections of a plastic ice cube tray.
3. Add 1-2 drops of food coloring to each section of the tray and mix with a small spoon.

Scratch & Sniff Watercolors

from the book The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

1 T unsweetened powdered drink mix
1 T warm water
several small containers (muffin tims work well)

1. Mix water and drink mix together in a small bowl. Repeat this step several times, using various flavors of drink mix to create different colors of paint.
2. Allow finished works to dry overnight before scratching and sniffing.

**Freeze any leftover paint into ice cubes to use for ice cube painting.

Gooey Gunk

from the book: The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

Solution A:
1 cup water
1 cup white glue (Elmers works best)
food colouring

1. Mix all the ingredients for solution A into a bowl and stir well.

Solution B:
1 1/3 cup warm water
4 teaspoons Borax

2. In a separate bowl, mix ingredients for solution b until Borax has completely dissolved.

3. Slowly pour solution A into solution B. DO NOT MIX!

5. 4. Sort of roll the combined with your hands until a solidified, loose, jelly like dough has formed. Lift the jelly like dough and place on the counter leaving the liquid in the bowl. Knead on the counter. Gunk will be very loose at first but will firm up.
6. Store in a sealed container.

Tip: Use red liquid tempera paint/food coloring to create lava gunk, green to create slimy gunbk, or black to create tar gunk.