How to Make Silly Putty

Wednesdays With Whitney
Recipe By James Clinard for About.com, Photos by Stephanie Felzenberg

One of my charges loves doing science experiments at home and asked if we would make Silly Putty last week. Since Whitney is still on her honeymoon I decided to share this project with our readers today.  

Whenever making arts and crafts or science experiments don't use kitchen utensils used for preparing or serving food when making the project. I like using disposable plastic cups, plastic take out containers, crafts sticks, and straws to measure, mix, and store the projects instead. I simply use kitchen measuring cups to measure water than pour the water into clear, disposable plastic cups. I use a permanent marker to make a line on the plastic cup at the edge of the water and then toss the water. (See photo of ingredients).


You Will Need:

1/4 Cup of Glue
3/8 Cup of Water
1 Tablespoon of Borax

What to Do:

1. Make a 50-50 mixture of glue and water using 1/4 cup of glue and 1/4 cup of water. (Remember not to measure glue with kitchen utensils but use disposable plastic cups).

2. If you would like to color the silly putty, add some food coloring to this mixture. The more food coloring you add, the richer the color will be.

3. Next, dissolve the borax in 1/8 cup of water.

4. Combine the borax-water mixture with the glue-water mixture. (We mixed the ingredients with craft sticks in disposable take out food containers).

5. If you find that your silly putty is too sticky, add more borax one teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.