Homemade Silly Putty

In one of the earlier posts (below) I mentioned that in games for VBS one night we made Homemade Silly Putty. I actually didn't mean "we"...the kids made it. At the end of the "session" for the evening, they were each given a ziplock baggy with the directions taped on the front. This is a super easy recipe that kids can do. I thought the parents might enjoy having the recipe so the kids could make more silly putty at home. :)

You need:
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of Borax
small bowl
1 tablespoon of Elmer's Glue
1 teaspoon of water
plastic spoon or fork
food coloring (optional)


First, you need to place 1 cup of warm tap water in a measuring cup and then add 1 tablespoon of Borax. Stir this until the Borax is competely (or mostly) dissolved. Place your cup of Borax water to the side for later.

Next, in a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of Elmer's Glue and 1 teaspoon of water.

Then, if you want, add some food coloring. The more the food coloring, the darker or more vibrant your color will be. I cannot find the liquid food coloring (red, yellow, blue, and green) like I used to use when I was younger. Now it seems all the stores sell gel food coloring that looks like little icing tubes. That is what we used and it also worked great.

After you put in your food coloring, stir until everything is mixed together well.

Now, add in 1 tablespoon of your Borax water mix. This will immediately turn some of the mixture into a more solid state as you should be able to see in the picture below.

Stir this with a plastic spoon, popsicle stick, anything that you don't mind throwing away afterward. Stir until the mixture turns into silly putty. It will only form so much and mix until it won't mix anymore. It will still be a little wet.

At this point, you must put your spoon (or mixing utensil) down and scoop out the putty with your hands. The more you squeeze and play with the putty, the less watery it will be.

Here are two examples that I made ahead of time.