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Toy Time!
Teacher’s Instructions
Teaching Objectives:
 Students will learn about polymers and their prevalence in every day life.
 Students will learn how to make their own polymers.
 Students will describe the physical properties of some polymers.
Recommended Grades: K-8
Estimated Time: 45 minutes
Disclaimer: This experiment can be very messy and will require easy access to
sinks. It will also be helpful is there is more than one adult available to help with the
set-up and cleanup of the experiment.
Prep Time: 20-30 minutes (If pre-measuring all of the materials)
Clean-up Time: 20-30 minutes
Key Terms:
Polymers: A large molecule made up of chains or rings of linked units. Polymers
usually have high melting and boiling points.
Physical Properties: Physical properties are any properties of matter, which can be
observed without changing the chemical identity of the sample.
Procedure:
1. Pair up the students. Each pair will make all three recipes. In front of each
pair, place three medium size plastic containers, two plastic cups, bottles of
food coloring and measuring cups. If the students are grades 5-8 allow them
to measure every ingredient on their own. Teacher might want to assist with
the bottles of glue and liquid starch because they tend to be heavy. If the
students are grades K-4, pre-measure all ingredients. Make sure to label all
plastic bags and containers so the students know what everything is. By premeasuring the ingredients, you will minimize some of the mess.
2. Explain what polymers are and how prevalent they are in our lives. Give
examples of common polymers. Ask the class if they can come up with any
other examples. Examples: plastics, proteins, hair, nails, rubber, silly putty,
and cellulose (as in plants).
3. Tell the class that we will be talking about physical properties of polymers.
Give some examples of physical properties. Ask the class if they can come up
with any other examples.
Kimi Kossler
January 2012
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4. Introduce the specifics of the experiment by telling them the story that goes
with the experiment. (See Student Instructions)
5. Tell the class that they will be making three toys, one at a time. Do not let
them move on to the next toy until everybody in the class is ready to move on
to the next toy.
6. Make the toys in the following order: Borax Putty, Salty Putty, Oobleck. Tell
the students that they can make them any color they want. For the Borax
Putty you will need to heat the water slightly so the borax powder will
dissolve in the water. If there are not enough bottles of liquid starch and glue
to share between a few pairs, then have the students raise their hands and
wait for the bottles to be passed to them.
7. Tell the kids to play with the toys. Ask them to describe the differences
between the toys. Have the students answer the questions on the worksheet.
8. The toys can be split amongst the partners and store in the sandwich bags.
Remind them to refrigerate the toys so they don’t get moldy, once they are at
home.
Recipes:
Borax Putty Recipe
1. Add ½ teaspoon of borax to ¾ cups of warm water in a plastic cup. Stir until
the borax is completely dissolved in the water. Add 4-6 drops of food
coloring into the plastic cup.
Make sure you don’t put any of the borax powder in our mouth or eyes!
2. Let the solution sit in the plastic cup until it cools down.
3. Pour 1 cup of Elmer’s glue into the medium size container.
4. Pour the solution from the plastic cup into the medium size container.
5. Mix everything together with your hands.
6. Let the putty sit in the plastic container for about ten minutes.
7. Take it out of the plastic container and play with it!
Salty Putty Recipe
1. Mix ½ cup of liquid starch and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a plastic cup. Add 4-6
drops of food coloring into the plastic cup. To mix the food coloring, gently
swirl the cup.
2. Pour ½ cup of glue into the medium plastic container.
3. Pour the colored solution from the plastic cup into the medium plastic
container.
4. Mix everything together with your hands.
5. Let the putty sit in the plastic container for about ten minutes.
6. Take it out of the plastic container and play with it!
Kimi Kossler
January 2012
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Oobleck Recipe
1. Measure 1 cup of cornstarch and pour it into medium plastic container.
2. Add food coloring to ½ cup of water in a plastic cup.
3. Pour the colored water into the medium plastic container.
4. Mix with hands!
5. Play with it!
Why it works:
Polymers are extremely prevalent in our every day lives. They make up things such
as plastics, proteins, hair, nails, rubber, silly putty, and cellulose (as in plants). Silly
putty is a type of silicon polymer. It is unique because it can act as a liquid and as an
elastic solid. It also becomes more fluid when more pressure is applied. Oobleck is
different than silly putty because it acts as a solid when more pressure is applied
and as a liquid when less pressure is applied. Some examples of physical properties
are: color, shape, texture, volume and density. Physical properties are any
properties that can be detected through sight, smell, touch, sound, and anything else
that can be measured without the need of a chemical reaction.
Supplementary Exercises:
Read the students the Dr. Seuss book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck before or after
the experiment. This is a fun way to connect literature and science!
References:
Silly Putty Recipe. http://sillyputtyrecipe.org/ (accessed January 5, 2012).
How to Make Oobleck. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Oobleck (accessed January
5, 2012).
Kimi Kossler
January 2012
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Toy Time!
Materials List
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Cornstarch: 1 cup per pair
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Medium size plastic container: 3 per pair
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20 – 30 plastic cups: 2 per pair
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Liquid starch: ½ cup per pair
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Elmer’s glue: 1 ½ cups per pair
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Salt: ¼ teaspoon per pair
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Food coloring
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Water: 2 cups per pair
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Borax: ½ teaspoon per pair
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Measuring cups
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Sandwich bags: 3 per student
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Device to heat water (microwave, hot plate, electric kettle)
Kimi Kossler
January 2012
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Toy Time!
Student’s Instructions
One day after school you are at home working on your homework when you
hear a knock at the door. You run to the door, but you first peek through the window
on the door to see who is outside. Nobody is out there, but you see that there is a
large envelop with your name on it. You open the door to get the letter and hurry
back into the kitchen to open it. Inside there is a piece of paper that says:
Congratulations!!!
You have been selected to test out 3 new toys for
the famous toy store, Toy Bonanza. Please follow
the directions below and let us know which toy you
liked the best!
Sincerely,
Toy Bonanza
You will need:
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Cornstarch
Borax
Warm water
Food coloring
Liquid Starch
Elmer’s Glue
Medium size plastic containers (3)
Plastic Cups (2)
Measuring cups
Kimi Kossler
January 2012
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Procedure:
A) First, put on your safety goggles and then make the Salty Putty!
Borax Putty Recipe
1. Add ½ teaspoon of borax to ¾ cups of warm water in a plastic cup. Stir until
the borax is completely dissolved in the water. Add 4-6 drops of food
coloring into the plastic cup.
Make sure you don’t put any of the borax powder in our mouth or eyes!
2. Let the solution sit in the plastic cup until it cools down.
3. Pour 1 cup of Elmer’s glue into the medium size container.
4. Pour the solution from the plastic cup into the medium size container.
5. Mix everything together with your hands.
6. Let the putty sit in the plastic container for about ten minutes.
7. Take it out of the plastic container and play with it!
B) Let the Borax Putty sit in the container and start making the Salt Putty!
Salty Putty Recipe
1. Mix ½ cup of liquid starch and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a plastic cup. Add 4-6
drops of food coloring into the plastic cup. To mix the food coloring, gently
swirl the cup.
2. Pour ½ cup of glue into the medium plastic container.
3. Pour the colored solution from the plastic cup into the medium plastic
container.
4. Mix everything together with your hands.
5. Let the putty sit in the plastic container for about ten minutes.
6. Take it out of the plastic container and play with it!
C) Let the Salty Putty sit in the container and start making Oobleck!
Oobleck Recipe
1. Measure 1 cup of cornstarch and pour it into medium plastic container.
2. Add food coloring to ½ cup of water in a plastic cup.
3. Pour the colored water into the medium plastic container.
4. Mix with hands!
5. Play with it!
D) Clean up the tables and wash your hands!
Kimi Kossler
January 2012
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Name: _________________________________________
Date: __________________________________________
Toy Time!
Worksheet
1. Which toy is the most bouncy?
2. Which toy stretches the most?
3. What are some examples of polymers? (List 2)
4. Which toy did you like the best?
Kimi Kossler
January 2012