Silly Putty

In my science class we do an engaging and fun experiment or activity each time. One of my favorite activities was making Silly Putty! This is how you do it:  

1.  Mix 10 (or 15) ml of Elmer white glue with 3 ml (or 1 teaspoon) of water and stir.
2.  Add 15 ml of a base solution, like borax.   An optional step is to add food coloring to get the desired color you want.
3.  Stir rapidly until the water is fully separated from the putty. Then pull the putty out and enjoy!

My professor bought everyone in the class a plastic egg to store their silly putty inside. It is important to share with students that the glue, water, and base solution mix together to create a chemical reaction which creates a substance something similar to silly putty! It is missing the preservatives that real silly putty has, so it has a bit of a different feel.