Special Education Services
Plano Independent School District

Colored glue is a great adaptation for the classroom and can be used in a variety of ways. Students may draw lines or dots. The colored glue becomes both textural for a tactile experience and visually colorful. The glue can still be used as an adhesive. The only expense is the bottle of glue.

For ideas on ways to use colored glue go to Lesson Ideas on this web site.

This is an example of colored glue used over a painting to enhance brush strokes. Colored glue can be used as a textural drawing tool.	The list of materials needed to make colored glue is short. You will need only a bottle of glue, a water-soluble marker, and a pliers.
STEP ONE: I prefer to use Crayola® markers because of their quality in color. I found that some marker color will fade with time. Crayola® color will not fade. I use markers that are no longer useful for drawing and recycle them for making colored glue. Using a pliers remove the end cap.	STEP TWO: Even though the marker may no longer be useful for drawing, there will be enough colorant to color the glue. Remove the felt cartridge from inside the marker. If you cannot remove the cartridge with a pliers, you could use a tweezers or a needle-nose pliers.
STEP THREE: Place the felt cartridge into the glue bottle. I sometimes have had students make the colored glue. They have cut the felt cartridges in half and then add another half cartridge to mix and create new colors.	STEP FOUR: Replace the glue cap and allow to set for 24 hours. The felt cartridge will remain in the bottle. I have refilled the bottle with glue and found that the colorant will continue to color the glue.
STEP FIVE: You can write the name of the marker color on the bottle. When students have combined colors from markers they will make up a new name for the colored glue.	STEP SIX: After 24 hours you should notice color moving from the cartridge into the glue. The color will appear to be lighter than the marker, but still similar.
STEP SEVEN: After 24 hours you may want to turn the bottles to allow the color to mix in the glue bottle. Within 3 days the glue will be ready to use.	STEP EIGHT: When using the colored glue you may notice that the color is pale when first applied to a surface. After the glue has dried you will see the close similarity to the marker color as illustrated above.

Permission granted by B Able To, Inc. 10-19-2006
Copyright ©2004 Kathryn Rulien-Bareis

 

 

 

Plano Independent School District
Department of Special Education Services
2700 W. 15th Street
Plano, Texas 75075-7543
469-752-8240