March is
National Reading Month. For hands-on reading lesson plans, how about homemade
science recipes and kitchen chemistry experiments? Here are recipes for
silly putty, noise or farting putty, Flubber, play dough, melting goop,
Oobleck, Moon Sand, lint dough, modeling clay, paper mache, and soap dough.
Noise
Putty, Farting putty or Flubber: Silly putty is called farting putty, because
it sounds like passing gas when squished. This simple recipe has wowed
generations of students in three decades of teaching. Mix blue liquid laundry
starch and white school glue. Laundry starch is found in laundry section.
Sta-Flo is the most common brand. Blend in cup or zippered bag with fingers.
Mix till sticky glue is blended in and putty is slippery and rubbery.
Magic
Melting Putty or Oobleck. This simple recipe defys the laws of matter. Mix a
little water in corn starch. It hardens to a solid then "melts" when you
touch it. Put melting putty in the preschool sand and water table. Or fill a
child's pool with cornstarch and water for hours of messy fun. Great preschool
birthday party activity!
Moldable
Moon Sand. This dough recipe teaches ratios. The ratio is 2 to 1 to .5. Mix 2
cups of commercial play sand, 1 cup corn starch to one half cup of cold water
(color water with food coloring if desired). Dissolve corn starch in cold water
(cold doesn't clump, but you can let kids experiment with warm to discover that
for themselves). The blend sand and corn starch together. Make a large batch
for classroom sand table.
Perfect
Play Dough: Blend 1 cup salt, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup boiling water, 1 teaspoon
of cream of tartar or alum, food coloring, cooking oil (about 2 T.) Dough too
sticky? Add flour. Too dry? Add water or oil.
Soap
Dough: Mix 1 cup powdered laundry detergent, an eighth of a cup of water and
food coloring. Mold or sculpt as you would with play-dough. Store in
refrigerator.
Paper
mache. Tear any recycled scrap paper in pieces. Soak in hot water till pulpy.
Add a dribble of white school glue. Blend till smooth. When cool, spread over
boxes and containers to form shapes. Great eco-friendly craft.
Dryer
Lint Dough. Teach ratios 1.5:1:.3. Mix 1.5 cups pressed dryer lint with one cup
cold water and one third cup of flour. Add a drop of oil to prevent mold.
Dissolve flour in cold water and blend to get rid of lumps. Carefully add lint
and stir constantly until mixture forms stiff peaks. Mold like paper mache.
