A fast & easy recipe for DIY colored glue! Find out how to make colored glue. All you need is plain white glue and some food coloring for a quick DIY home project.
Colored glue is one of our must-have staples in our homeschool classroom. We use it almost weekly as one of our options for practicing spelling words. The kids say it is much more fun to write spelling words with colored glue than to just write it with a pencil. Besides, the glue forces them to slow down and make each letter with precision, emphasizing the correct spelling. Win!
Other than using it to write words, kids can also use colored glue like paint or as a fun alternative to markers. Plus, it still works like regular glue so it can be fun just to use in everyday, regular projects requiring glue! When it dries, it will be flat and colored, making fun patterns on your paper! Who doesn’t love a little bit of variety?
Making colored glue is fast and easy. All you need is white glue and some food coloring.
How Can You Add Food Coloring to Glue?
Simply unscrew the lid and add 3-4 drops of liquid food coloring to white glue to make fun colored glue. Since glue is very viscous, it takes awhile for the food coloring to work its way around. So, pop on the cap and give it a shake-shake-shake!
The color may not permeate every part of the glue immediately, but the more you shake, mix, and squeeze, the more the color will mix into the glue. The color will continue moving and mixing around as you let the glue sit, too, so for best results color it the day before you plan to use it.
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How Can You Change the Color of Glue?
The more food coloring you add, the darker the hue of the color will become. Most food coloring comes in the primary colors, red, yellow, and blue. If you mix those, you can create additional shades of secondary colors such as green, purple, and orange. Since you are mixing it with white glue, you are likely to get pastel shades of your colors.
Materials to Make DIY Colored Glue:
- Small bottles of glue. I prefer Elmer’s.
- Food coloring
Steps to Make DIY Colored Glue:
- Open a small bottle of white glue.
- Add 3-4 drops of food coloring. More = darker hue.
- Replace lid. Shake colored glue, turning it sideways and upside down as needed to move the food coloring throughout the glue.
- You can use immediately, but for best results, let colored glue sit overnight.
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3 Tips for Making DIY Colored Glue
- Use smaller glue bottles! You can always refill from a larger one later.
- Use glue bottles that are not quite full. It allows more space to shake up the glue so the food coloring can work its way around.
- As the levels on your colored glue get low, just refill from a larger white bottle of glue, add 1 more drop of color, and you are all set again!
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