Crafty Science Concoctions

Remember: Be sure to ask an adult before starting any cooking project!
Some projects listed here may require the use of knives, a stovetop, oven and/or microwave.

Magic Mud

Ingredients:
3 parts cornstarch
1 part cold water
Optional: several drops of food colouring

Stir ingredients together so that they form a liquid, then scoop up a handful and squeeze it. Open your hand and watch it melt away again. Is it a solid or a liquid?
This mixture is a colloid. The water doesn't actually dissolve the cornstarch.

Paper Mache Paste

After 32 flour and water paper mache projects went mouldy during my first year of teaching, I did my own experimenting and came up with the following fail-proof recipe. We have projects that are 6 years old that have been stored in our basement, and still look as good as the day they were made.

Ingredients:
Cornstarch (about 1-2 Tablespoons for each cup of water)
Cold water
Optional: a dash of salt

Stir together cornstarch and water in a small saucepan. Heat on medium heat while continuously stirring until the mixture starts to thicken and become transluscent. Let cool to room temperature. You can experiment with the amounts of water and cornstarch you use for this depending on the consistency you want to end up with.

Use this for any paper mache project. We usually use it by coating torn newspaper strips and applying them to a cardboard or balloon base. Keep the strips narrow, and be sure that the paper has fully absorbed the paste to avoid lumps. Finer details can be made with tissue or paper towelling.
Try coating a balloon with a couple of layers to make a round pinata (cut a hole out of one end, fill then add a paper mache strip to seal it up).

You can make dragon eggs from smaller balloons in the same way.
Coat a balloon and let dry, then cut in two length wise to make a pair of masks.

The dried paper mache can be painted with tempera or acrylic paint. You can seal it with acrylic varnish or shellac.

To make a creature or other more complex structure, form a base using any or all of the following: scrunched up newspaper (to make it smooth, put it into a paper or plastic bag before adding paper mache over top), toilet, paper towel or wrapping paper tubes, balloons of various shapes and sizes, corrugated cardboard, paperboard (cereal boxes etc.), and applesauce, yogurt or other plastic containers. Use strips of newspaper dipped in paper mache paste to tape the pieces together and let dry, then cover the whole thing with 2-3 layers of newspaper paper mache. For finer details, use tissue or paper towelling soaked in the paste and form into shape with your hands.

Paper Mulch Dough

This is a great way to reuse old flyers, construction paper bits, etc.
Tear up bits of paper into small pieces. make it one colour or mix it up as desired. Add about 1 cup of paper to about 1 1/2 cups of warm water. It is best to let this sit for a few hours, or even overnight.

Pour the mixture into a blender and pulse until it is a uniform consistency. Add extra paper or water as desired. You can also add a squirt of white glue and / or paper mache paste to thicken it and create a stickier consistency if desired.

To make your own paper, add more water and follow the directions at this link.
Use the thick dough to form into shapes or press into cookie cutters and let dry. It can also be rolled out flat to make a thicker paper.
To make it stronger when dry add a small amount of glue or paper mache paste to the mixture and / or use some office-quality paper in your mixture and pulse it for a slightly shorter time (so you still see some individual specks of paper in the mixture).
Paint and/or varnish the dried pieces with acrylic to seal them and help them last longer.

Easy Finger Paint #1

Prepare paper mache paste as above and add liquid or powdered tempera paint to the desired intensity. Use freezer paper as an alternative to more expensive finger painting paper.

Easy Finger Paint #2

Use either shaving cream or whipping cream with a few drops of food colouring mixed in well.

Indoor Snow Sculpting #1

Ingredients:
one part shaving cream
one part white school glue

Combine well and sculpt as desired. This makes good 3-D paintings, and dries to an almost plastic-like finish. Over months it will begin to crumble. It makes a very satisfying tactile experience for the younger set.

Indoor Snow Sculpting #2

Ingredients:
grated ivory or other pure white bar soap
water

Mould your own creations out of the flakes, only adding water as absolutely necessary to keep things sticking together. Try forming snowmen or making an old-fashioned soap-on-a-rope for an older relative. You can also mould it around small plastic toys for bathtime excavating.

Snow Painting

Ingredients:
liquid food colouring
water
plastic spray bottle or squeeze bottle, one for each colour used

Fill your bottles 2/3 full with water, then add a few drops of food colouring. The more food colouring, the more intense the colours will appear.

Ideas for use:
- build a snow wall (use a recycling box to make large bricks) then paint a mural on it
- use your lawn as a snowy canvass
- add details to a snowperson
- colour in snow angels

The Best Homemade Playdough Ever (Thanks Lisa!)

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 package unsweetened drink mix (Kool-aid or similar)
3/4 cup of salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups of boiling water

Combine flour and drink mix and stir well. Dissolve salt in the boiling water and stir into the flour mixture, then add oil and continue to stir lightly with a spoon. Let cool enough to handle, then knead for three to five minutes and store in a plastic air-tight container. Lasts for up to five weeks.

Homemade Silly Putty AKA "Flubber"
Polymers are compounds that form long molecular chains. Here is a simple polymer you can make at home.

Ingredients:
1 tsp. borax
1 cup white school glue (I'm told Elmer's is superior)
1 1/4 cups water
optional: food colouring

In one container, combine half the water (doesn't have to be exact, as long as it dissolves the glue), food colouring and borax until the borax is dissolved. In another container, combine the rest of the water and the glue. Slowly stir the glue mixture into the borax mixture. As it starts to form a ball, you can work it with your hands. If you use a plastic freezer bag for the water mixture, you can keep your hands free of the putty (but that wouldn't be nearly so much fun, would it?!).
Once it has set, try stretching it slowly. Now take a piece and pull it apart quickly. What happens? Does your flubber bounce?
Try making this with half the borax. How does this change things?

Slime

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of white school glue (PVA glue)
1/4-1/2 cup liquid laundry starch (it will be near the laundry detergents at larger grocery or department stores)
optional: a drop of food colouring or tempera paint

Slowly stir the starch into the glue one tablespoon at a time. Let sit five minutes, then knead it with your hands until it sticks together. This can be used to lift comic prints, blow blubbles, etc.

Baker's Clay (Simple Salt Dough)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 cups salt
~1 cup of water
optional: food colouring or acyrlic paints

Combine salt and water (and food colouring if desired) until salt is dissolved, then add to the flour slowly, stirring in and then kneading until well combined and at desired consistency. Form into shapes, being careful to seal overlapping pieces well with water. If you want to hang them, use a skewer or plastic straw to make a hole in the top. Bake at 275 F for 45-60 minutes. Cooled pieces can be painted with acrylic paints. We use this to make Christmas tree ornaments each year.

Method 2: Tint and Bake

Blend dough ingredients until smooth (hand kneading works best). Divide the dough into separate bowls for tinting. Use food colouring (either liquid or paste) to tint the dough. You will need quite a bit of colouring. I suggest wearing plastic or latex gloves to hand knead the colour into the dough. Create your pieces, and use a toothpick to make a hole for hanging, or insert a bent paperclip into the top to make a hanger. Bake as above. Coat with acrylic varnish if desired.

Cinnamon Applesauce Dough

Ingredients:
1 cup applesauce
1 cup powdered cinnamon (or variation)
Variation: Use 1/2-3/4 cup cinnamon and add flour and if you wish, ground nutmeg, cloves or allspice to make up the difference so that your powder portion is equal to your applesauce portion

Mix dry ingredients well; add applesauce and stir well then knead, adding more dry ingredients if necessary. Form into desired shapes and air dry overnight. They will shrink a fair bit. We make a flat sheet out of any leftover dough and break it into pieces for potpourri when it is dry.

10-Second Water Paint

Ingredients:
liquid food colouring
water

Yep folks, it's as easy as that. Just wash out a plastic or styrofoam egg tray, add a couple of drops of food colouring and a few more drops of water and you are on your way. The more diluted the colour, the more pastel the shades will become. For variation, try using dish soap or corn syrup instead of the water.

Falling Fireless Fireworks
(An experiment with density)

Ingredients:
liquid food colouring
one tablespoon vegetable oil
water
wide-mouthed transparent bowl or jar
small cup for mixing

In the small cup, mix the oil and 2-4 drops of various colours of food colouring. Combine until you get lots of tiny droplets of colour in the oil. Fill the larger container with water, then pour the oil mixture on top and watch through the side of the container.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Projects

Materials:
125 ml (1/2 cup) white vinegar (acetic acid)
3-4 tablespoons baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
volcano base (we use plasticene to make this)
Optional: several drops of food colouring
Optional: several drops of dish soap

Make your volcano form from the plasticene. Be sure that the plasticene forms a seal around the bottom (we use a dedicated plastic placemat for this purpose). Set it into a large pan, or do this outdoors so that the "lava" will not make a mess all over your house.
Pour the baking soda into the bottom of the volcano. For a delayed effect, spread a sheet of paper towellingover the baking soda.
If you are using food colouring and/or dish soap, add it to the vinegar and stir. Now pour in the vinegar mixture and watch the lava flow!

You can also make a volcano with Alka-Seltzer tablets and water (put 2-4 tablets inside, then add water), or dry ice (pour in a scoop of dry ice pellets, then add dish detergent and warm water). Add food colouring if desired.

Materials:
1 tsp. baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1-2 tsp. white vinegar (acetic acid)
clear or white film cannister (with the "cork style" attachment where the lid fits inside the cannister)
a small tissue or 1/4 sheet of paper towelling
a circle of cardstock or paperboard (like from a cereal box) formed into a cone that will fit onto your film cannister
an adult wielding a glue gun, or a small strip of duct tape

Be sure to do this outdoors, and always direct this away from all living things. Read all the instructions through first before starting this project.

Glue or tape the cone to the bottom of the cannister. Pour the baking soda onto the centre of the tissue or paper towel then wrap it up tightly and tuck it into the cannister. With the lid ready, pour in the vinegar then immediately place the lid on top and invert the cannister onto the lid. Step away and wait for your rocket to fly. Try different amounts of baking soda and vinegar to determine the best mixture. You can also do this with an Alka Seltzer tablet wrapped in tissue and water, or see here for instructions with dry ice (to be done only with a responsible adult!).

You will need:
a balloon
a plastic or glass bottle with a narrow mouth
white vinegar
baking soda
a funnel

Pour 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda into the balloon using the funnel. Pour 1/4 cup of vinegar into the bottle. Carefully stretch the opening of the balloon over the mouth of the bottle to create a seal. Try not to let the baking soda fall into the bottle until the seal is complete.
Now, keeping the bottle in place, lift the bottom of the balloon to tip the baking soda into the bottle. In a short time, you should see your balloon start to inflate. Experiment with the amounts and bottle and balloon sizes to see what works best for you.