January 2004 Project of the Month Paste and Glue Recipes Creating homemade paste and glue is simple and fun! Have your child help you with these recipes, and then enjoy the sticky texture together - make collages, cut out and glue pictures from magazines, or make a glue picture. Paste We made two paste recipes, and both were very easy but very messy! Wear old clothes, and be ready to wash hands when you are through. For a very simple recipe, just mix 1/2 cup of flour with 1/4 cup of water. You can add more flour and/or more water until you get the consistency and amount you want. Mixing it with your hands is fun but gooey! This glue is not very practical, but it's a marvelous textural experience for a rainy (or snowy) day. If you want to get a little fancier, mix the flour with water in a saucepan. Add enough water so that the glue is the texture of very thick cream. An adult should then heat it on the stove for about five minutes, letting it simmer a bit and stirring often. Then add a few drops of food coloring to make colored paste. These pastes can be used for collages or to make glue pictures. Trying the paste on a colored piece of construction paper gives a new effect. Go ahead and use your fingers to spread the glue. You should be able to store your glue in a plastic container in the fridge for a short time. Colored Glue Put a bit of store-bought white glue into some small plastic containers. (Applesauce ones work really well.) Mix a bit of food coloring with the glue, creating several colors. Use just a little for light colors, more for dark colors. Teach your child how to create new colors. (Ex: blue + red = purple.) The colors turn out lovely and vivid. Paint a picture with the glue using paintbrushes on white or colored paper, or use it to make collages. What fun!! Do you have an idea for another Project of the Month for our Crafts for Kids Cubby? We'd love to hear from you. Email our moderators with your suggestions!