Making goo (also known as slime, gak, or flubber) is a simple process. You only need three ingredients, and this recipe results in a weird, stretchy substance that entertains kids for quite awhile. This is a fun experiment for kids of all ages — I found the recipe at Steve Spangler science. Fall is a great time of year to stock up on one of the principle ingredients: white glue. School supply sales are awesome! Of course, you can buy white glue at the dollar store all year around for the low price of $1, too.

My sons and I made a video tutorial. This project really is easy enough for a four year-old to do (with supervision, of course!)

Project Estimate:

• 8 oz (1 big bottle or 2 small) White glue, $1
• 1-1/2 cups Water, on hand
• 1 teaspoon Borax, $4 for a box

Total: $5

To Make:

1. Pour glue into a bowl.

2. Fill glue bottle with warm water and shake to get all the glue out of the bottle. Pour into bowl. Add food coloring if desired.

3. Add 1 teaspoon Borax to 1/2 cup of warm water and stir.

4. Pour Borax-water solution into bowl and mix. Long strings will immediately form. Continue to mix until smooth.

5. Store in a zip-top bag or sealed container.

A note about Borax:

Borax is the only “weird” ingredient in the list, but it’s easy to find it in the laundry section of your local grocery store. Unfortunately, you probably won’t find it at the dollar store, but you go to the grocery store still, don’t you? You only need a teaspoon of Borax for this recipe, but you can use the rest of the Borax to make your own laundry detergent and DIY dishwashing detergent.

Is Borax Safe?

Some people aren’t sure if Borax is safe for kids. In my research, I have discovered that Borax is generally safe for use in recipes like Goo. Obviously, you don’t want to let your child eat the Borax or the Goo, but “most likely, the skin and respiratory irritation that borax causes is due to the structure of the substance (many sharp edges). Table salt, or sodium chloride, causes irritation by the same method.” Of course, if you are not comfortable with letting your child use a product that includes Borax as an ingredient, you should skip this project. Here’s the MSDS Safety Sheet for Borax.

Steve Spangler says:

Science Smarts starts with proper adult supervision and common sense. Read all the directions before you begin any experiment and if you aren’t sure about something, ask someone who knows!

• Don’t put any chemical near your mouth, eyes, ears, or nose. The incorrect use of chemicals can cause injury and damage to health…

For example, would you consider water to be a safe chemical? Sure it’s safe… it’s water! But try reading the MSDS on water and you might be surprised. “FIRST AID: Call a physician, seek medical attention for further treatment, observation and support after first aid. Inhalation: Remove to fresh air at once. If breathing has stopped give artificial respiration immediately.” Sounds frightening… and it’s just water! If you request an MSDS on any product, make sure you understand what you’re reading before jumping to any conclusions. If you are concerned about a particular chemical contained in the product, seek the professional advice of an expert. Any chemical can pose safety concerns (yes, even water).

The best advice we can give parents, teachers or any adult supervisor is to read and follow the directions carefully. Look for phrases like “non-hazardous” or “not expected to be a health risk”. If you have any questions, pick up the phone and call. Most importantly, if an accident happens, seek help immediately.

The post How to Make Goo (aka Slime, Gak, or Flubber) appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

When it comes to wreaths, I’ve seen just about every kind you can imagine. Therefore, it’s hard to impress me with a wreath project. Sure, they’re quick and fun, but they usually don’t offer anything new. Well this wreath is an exception! Over at Infarrantly Creative, Jaime from That’s My Letter guest-posted with this brightly colored wreath that is made from recycled playdough containers and dollar store plastic tablecloths! This ingenious dollar store craft is weatherproof, and hangs on an outdoor playset, which completely amuses me! [how to make a recycled playdough container wreath]

Project Estimate:

• Small playdough containers (like the kind used for party favors), on hand or about $5
• Plastic party tablecloth, $1 each
• Short push-pins, $1
• Recycled cardboard for frame, on hand
• Hot glue & glue gun, on hand

Total: $1 and up

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If you’ve never made salt dough you are missing out on lots of fun; that goes for kids and adults alike! The beauty of salt dough is that you don’t have to make a great big batch, simply follow the ratio of 1 part salt, 2 parts flour and 1 part water. If you want to make a big batch use 1 cup of salt, 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of water. You’ll have plenty of dough to make a slew of ornaments, pins, magnets or bowl fillers. If you just want to make a few items, use tablespoons instead of cups! There’s no measurement rule.

For this salt dough snowman family, I’ve given some suggested measurements, but again it’s really up to you!

Salt Dough Snowman Family
by Amanda Formaro of Crafts by Amanda

You will need

• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water
• acrylic paint in black, white, pink, green, orange, and red
• paintbrush
• two orange toothpicks
• 6 small twigs
• felt scraps
• 2 mini pom poms
• 1 small gold glitter pom pom
• pink and gold ribbon

What you do

Preheat oven to 250 F. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until a dough is formed. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Just be careful not to add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.

Salt dough is not edible, however it won’t hurt you or your kids, it just won’t taste very good!

Roll dough in your hands to form different sized balls. Make three snowmen from the balls, then line them up on the cookie sheet. Make sure they are touching each other so that they will be one piece after baking.

Break or cut orange toothpicks in half. Insert toothpick halves, point size out, into the each snowman head for the nose. Insert twigs for arms into each snowman. Be sure to both of these steps BEFORE baking.

Bake for approximately 2 – 2.5 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. For best results, allow to cool and dry overnight, or for at least 4 hours.

Paint snowmen with white paint. Use the wrong end of the paint brush to dot on colored buttons (I used green on one, red on another, and orange on the third).

Use a smaller paintbrush to repeat this method for adding eyes and mouths with black paint. Alternatively, you can use a black Sharpie marker if you prefer.

Embellish your snow family by fashioning scarves and hats out of scrap pieces of felt and adding a pom pom to the top of the hat. Add on ribbon and make ear muffs out of a small piece of gold ribbon and tiny pom poms. Use photo as a guide. Let dry completely and display.

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Here’s a great party planning tip from Kirsten & Jordan at Kojo Designs: Use those little single-serving playdough tubs as anchors for signs at parties. Apparently it’s become a “hostessing staple” for them, and I can see why! If the look of a tub of playdough doesn’t suit your party decor, stick the tubs (or just the playdough) into something that coordinates, like tea cups or terra cotta flowerpots (you can spray paint them any color!). You can pick up party packs of playdough (generic) at the dollar store, or check for post-holiday sales for bags of bulk playdough party favors. You can also make your own playdough for super cheap! [click here for Kojo Designs’ party tips]

Project Estimate:

• Playdough, FREE and up (Free if you make your own)

Total: FREE and up

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