Homemade White Glue

Original sketch of the Dramatic corner

I stumbled upon this recipe when I was researching for a cheaper solution for my school project. I need to set up a learning environment in one of the classes at where I work at the time. Since the theme was based on the book "Jack and the Beanstalk". I decided I shall make the beanstalk as the main attraction in the dramatic corner; and to do that, I need lots of newspaper, and lots of glue!

I don't waste so much money on buying white glue, or wasting the centre's materials. I remember when I was young, my mom used to make fabric stiffener using cornstarch! Then she would save a bit for us girls to use as glue. In terms of texture, it is similar to white glue, but I am not sure about its strength and I need something strong because I need my beanstalk to last at least 1 term (3 months); not forgetting it would be placed in a class shared by twenty children! So, it has to be durable!!

I went to my good friend Mr. Google.com to search for white glue recipe. There are lots of different version of homemade glue. There are cooked ones, non-cooked ones, then there are recipes that uses milk too! I am not sure about that, and I am scared of a sour milk smell afterwards. So, after comparing a few recipes from different websites. I decided to try this recipe from the Family Education website.

This white glue recipe, can be used on its own, or what I did was, to use it as papier mache too. It works really well, and it bonds well too. Just one downside is, homemade glue does attract little critters (I found a few in my plastic containers) ... so, the website suggested that you should put citrus oil or eucalyptus oil to shoo away the bugs.

So, here's the recipe..

Ingredients:

3/4  cup   water
2     tbsp  corn syrup
1     tsp    white vinegar

1/2  cup   cornstarch
3/4  cup   water

Method:

- Mix water, syrup and vinegar in a saucepan and bring it to boil.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water, stir till dissolved.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the first mixture, and stir constantly.
- Take off from the heat, place it to your desired container (glass jar works well)
- Let it stand overnight before using.

This recipe makes about a bowl of glue. You can make it in few batches too if you want, and store in smaller containers for easier use. If you keep them in the fridge, it would last you a few weeks at least. Happy gluing!

Here are some pictures of the Jack and the Beanstalk corner that I did that year. For the beanstalk, I rolled a lot of newspapers and use masking tape to combined into shape. Then, I set it in place by the wall, and used the homemade glue, then mixed with green paint and paint it directly to rolled newspaper. After leaving it over night, the glue hardens and hold the shape. My K2 teacher was so pleased with it that she kept the beanstalk structure there till another term! She even wanted to bring it home if she could, but it was too big.

The Magic Beanstalk!

The completed Dramatic Corner

Jack's house and Daisy the cow