Recipes For Clay, Goo & Other Compounds - Homeschool Realm (2024)

Chocolate Clay
10 oz. dark, milk or white chocolate confectionery coating (1-3/4 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips may be substituted (chopped and melted)); 1/3 Cup light corn syrup

Combine chocolate and corn syrup until just blended. Spread onto a sheet of waxed paper to 3/8-inch thickness (about an 8-inch square). Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature for about 2-3 hours or until dry to the touch. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap; let stand overnight. Use immediately or store up to 2 weeks.

Clean Mud
2 rolls toilet tissue, torn into pieces; 1 1/2 bars Ivory soap, shaved; 2 qt. warm water

Let children help combine all ingredients in a big plastic dishpan or large bucket. Knead by hand until soft and gooey, adding more water as necessary.

Clean Mud 2
Unroll 6 rolls of white bathroom tissue paper into a very large container. Generously add water until covered completely. Grate 2 bars of Ivory soap into mixture, and add 1 1/2 c. of Borax. Mix up well and PLAY!! Will last a LONG time!

Drizzle Goo
1 Cup Flour; 1/4 Cup Sugar; 1/4 Cup Salt; 3/4 Cup Water; Food coloring

Mix all together and put in squeeze bottle. Drizzle on paper.

Dryer Lint Clay
2 Cups Dryer Lint (firmly packed); 1/3 Cup Warm water; 6 Tbsp. White glue; 1 Tbsp. Clear dishwashing liquid

Tear the lint up into little bits. Mix everything in a bowl and knead until workable. Make things. Let them dry for several days.

Edible Clay
1/2 Cup Light corn syrup; 3/4 Cup Peanut butter; 1/2 Cup Soft margarine; 1/2 tsp. Salt; 1 tsp. Vanilla; 1 Cup Sugar; 1 Cup Flour

Mix ingredients well and knead until smooth – then play.

Flubber
Mix: 2 cups white glue (use clear glue for clear flubber) with 1 ½ cups water
Separately mix: 1 cup water with 3 teaspoon Borax, 20 Mule Team

Pour Borax mixture slowly into glue and water mixture. Stir with hands. Mix a second batch of water and Borax and pour in also. Keep kneading until it congeals and is solid. It shouldn’t stick to your hands. You can add food coloring, glitter, etc., although it changes the consistency and elasticity somewhat. Use a glass bowl so the kids can watch the chemical reaction in process! Really cool stuff! Great for birthday parties!

Fruity Putty
3 oz pkg. Sugar free fruit flavored gelatin; 2 Cups Flour; 1 Cup Salt; 4 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar; 2 Cups Boiling water; 2 Tbsp. Cooking Oil

Mix dry ingredients in saucepan. Add the boiling water and oil. Stir over medium heat until mixture forms a ball. Dump on wax paper. Cut the fruit picture from the box & glue it to the lid you use to store it in.

Homemade Beads
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup corn starch
tempera paint
3/4 cup cold water

Mix baking soda & corn starch together w/hands in saucepan. Add the paint to the water, stir until dissolved & pour into saucepan. Cook dough over medium heat, stirring constantly just until mixture solidifies. Roll beads into desired shapes and use pencils or tootpicks to poke holes in them (depending on how big you want them)…set out to dry…ours took about a week to dry fully hard. These make great necklaces and if you made them small enough, may consider trying some as Christmas tree garland (the beads are pretty heavy when finished, but are great for even very little guys to work with…with supervision.)

NOTE: When we made this, we used liquid tempera and the dough was very very sticky so we ended up having to knead alot more corn starch into it after it was cooked, so we could work with our hands in it. I got the recipe online and it didn’t specify liquid or powder tempera, so perhaps they meant powder? Might try that and see if it works…though it worked our way as well, just had some extra work to make it dry enough to work with…I’m going to try doubling the corn starch next time to see if that helps compensate for the liquid tempera…I’ll post here when I get the chance to try it out again.
One more thing…the bigger the beads, the more they crack when they dry (at least the way we did it). Just keep that in mind.

Lint Modeling Clay
3 cups dryer lint
1 cups cold or warm water
2/3 cups flour
3 drops oil of cloves, optional
old newspapers
saucepan
boxes, bottles, balloons or other objects to mold

Stir lint and water in saucepan, add flour and stir to prevent lumps. Add oil of cloves to keep recipe *fresh*. Cook over low heat and stir until mixture forms peaks pour out and cool on newspapers. Shape over boxes, bottles, balloons or press into a mold or use like papier mache

Hints: makes 4 cups; dries in 3 to 5 days; is very hard and durable; dries smooth if pressed into a mold; dries rougher is shaped over an object.

Moon Craters
½ cup liquid starch
2 cups rock salt
½ cup glue with food color
Mix and create 3D structures on cardboard.

No Bake Clay
1 Cup Salt; 1 Cup Flour; Food coloring, optional; 1/2 Cup Water

Stir salt and flour together in a medium bowl. Add food coloring to water to achieve desired color. Pour water into salt and flour mixture and knead until mixture is doughy, adding more flour or water as necessary. Store in airtight container. Objects made with this clay will air dry in about 48 hours.

Hint: As a variation, omit food coloring and let children paint their dried creations with tempera paint.

No-Bake Clay Beads
3/4cup flour
1/2cup corn flour
1/2cup salt
Powder Paint
3/8 cup warm water

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Add water gradually until mix. can be kneaded into a stiff dough. To reduce stickiness dust with dry flour. Pierce each bead with a tooth pick or large blunt needle and allow to dry for a few days. Holes may need to be repunched before stringing. Paint if desired. Coating beads with clear gloss enamel brings out the color.

Ooblick
Fill a large shallow tub 1/4-1/2 full of cornstarch (you can buy it bulk at warehouse stores). Add water until its gooey, but not watery. It will be a solid when it lays still, and a slimy liquid when you pick it up and let it drip from your hand. Way cool! Add food coloring for a colorful gooey time!

Polyvinyl Alcohol Slime
NOTE – This is for older children – Adult supervision is REQUIRED

1. Put 2 tablespoons 4% polyvinyl alcohol solution into a paper cup.
2. Add 2-3 drops of food color and mix.
3. Pour in 4% borax solution into the cup of polyvinyl alcohol solution.
4. Stir constantly while the borax solution is being added.
5. Once the gel has formed, remove it from the cup and knead it in your hands.
6. Place the Slime in a zipper-type plastic bag to prevent it from drying out.
7. A few drops of Lysol can be added to the Slime to minimize the formation of mold and extend the lifetime of theSlime.

Rainbow Stew I
1 Cup Cornstarch; 4 Cups Water; 1/3 Cup Sugar; Food coloring; Large ziploc bags; Duct tape

Mix above ingredients together into a large fry pan. Cook until thickened. Remove and stir until cool and add coloring. Make three or four different colors of rainbow stew. Put two different colors into a large ziploc bag. Push the air out of the bags, seal and duct tape to top of ziploc bag.

Let the children squeeze the bag and see what happens. This will keep for about 2 weeks. This is a wonderful lesson on primary color mixing.

Rainbow Stew II
1/3 Cup Sugar; 1 Cup Cornstarch; 4 Cups Cold water

Cook until thick. Divide into 3 separate bowls. Let cool!! Add red food coloring to one bowl, blue to the other, and yellow in the last. Place 1 T. of each color into ziplock bags, zip and seal with tape. Then squish the colors to mix the colors of the rainbow. Let the kids play with it while it is in the bags for a neat sensory experience or use it to mix colors.

Salt Crystal Goop
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 cup salt
food coloring
Mix together and put into squeeze bottles. When this goop dries, the crystals shine.

Sand Clay
1 Cup Sand; 1/2 Cup Cornstarch; 1 tsp. Alum (this is found in spice section of store); 3/4 Cup Hot water; Food coloring (optional)

Mix sand, cornstarch and alum in bowl. Add water, stirring vigorously. Add food coloring if desired. Cook over medium heat until thick. Cool and model. Dry in sun for a few days.

Will keep in an airtight container use with shells for seascape… shells will dry into mixture. A fun way to make permanent sand castles for your sandtable (with those new sandcastle/beach plastic pail sets). Add some plastic people figures and instant kingdom!

USE OLD POT FOR COOKING ON STOVE. SAND WILL SCRATCH. Makes permanent sand sculptures. It becomes stone-like when dry.

Sawdust Modeling Compound I
1 Cup Fine Sawdust; Food coloring; Old newspaper; Shellac or Varnish; 1 Cup Thin Paste or Paper Paste

If desired, dye sawdust with food coloring. Drain and spread on newspaper to dry before using. Mix sawdust and paste to a thick dough-like consistency. Knead until thoroughly mixed. The amounts of paste may vary according to the kind of sawdust used. If the sawdust is coarse, more paste may be needed to obtain the proper consistency.

Uses: Model as with clay. Articles molded with this compound have a lovely woodgrain appearance.

TO USE: Pieces of dough may be added to the basic piece by moistening and sticking them down. Within two to three days, the finished article will harden. To speed up drying bake in a 200-degree oven for 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the article. To give the article a permanent finish, spray with shellac or varnish. They can also be sanded to give a smoother finish.

Sawdust Modeling Compound II
2 Cups Sawdust; 3 Cups Flour; 1 Cup Salt

Combine all. Add water as needed. This dough becomes very hard and is not easily broken.

Silly Putty I
1 Cup Cornstarch; 1 C Salt; 1 1/2 Cups Flour; 1/2 Cup Water (maybe take more)

Mix together cornstarch, salt and flour. Add water. Then mix until right consistency. It’s easiest and messiest to mix with hands! This can be stored in zip-lock in fridge.

Silly Putty II
1 part Liquid Sta-Flo Starch; 1 part Elmer’s White Glue; Food Coloring

Mix together until it feels like putty. If too sticky, add 1 tsp. starch. If too stringy – add 1/2 tsp. glue. Knead on a paper covered surface until smooth (takes a while). Doesn’t store well.

Slime I
For a “silly putty” substance, mix equal parts of Elmer’s glue with liquid laundry starch.

For a “slimier” substance, mix cornstarch with water. It will be slimy. You can add food coloring to it to make it even more disgusting!

Slime II
1 Part Liquid starch; 2 Parts Elmer’s Glue; Food coloring, optional

Mix well in a cup using a craft stick first. It will be stringy! Then place the mixture in your hands and play with it. Add a little liquid starch if it continues to stick to your hands. The mixture will eventually be able to be handled without sticking to your hands. It will be solid and bounce! Children may color with markers if you did not add food coloring.

Slime III
1 box Ivory Soapflakes; 1 Gallon Water; Food color

Beat with mixer – Makes 5 gallon bucket.