Mini Makers Summer "Super Sticky" 2-Day Workshop

​Our Mini Makers “Super Sticky” 2-Day workshop was every bit as fun as I dreamed. This workshop mulled around in my brain for a while before it became a reality. I was inspired by the book ‘Too Much Glue’ by Jason Lefebvre, as well as my years of experience watching preschoolers use glue. I wanted to give our Mini Makers the opportunity to play and experiment with glue, showcasing it as its own form of media.

In the book 'Too Much Glue,' Matty decides to create a fantastic project, but uses too much glue. Soon, Matty gets stuck to the project, along with a wide variety of other items throughout the book. I wanted to create this same idea. I thought, “What if we create a project out of a big puddle of glue?” And that’s what we did. Each child was given a yogurt container lid filled with a puddle of glue. 

---

Children were invited to choose from a buffet of sequins, colored pasta, beans, and a variety of other collage materials to create a design of their choosing.

Some kids decided to add drops of food coloring and swirl it with a toothpick. When finished, we added a loop of yarn so that these could be hung when dry.

I asked the kids how long they thought it would take for the glue to dry. Some were not sure if the glue would dry at all. It turns it out it needed the full 48 hours between class to harden. This was a great lesson about how long puddles of glue dry vs. dabs of glue.

For our second project, I wanted to introduce the concept of paper mache, but in a more age-appropriate way. To prepare, students were invited to use stencils to make the outline of a shape or the letter of their name on a piece of wax paper. Then students practiced their cutting skills by snipping segments of yarn. Once prepared, students dipped their segments of yarn in glue, squeezed off the excess, and then draped it inside their outline. Kids repeated the process until the inside of the shape was filled. During the second day of the workshop, student selected a ribbon and threaded it through a hole in their hardened yarn shape. An adult then helped them hot glue it to a small stick so it could dangle and be displayed like a pendant.

I invited any early finishers on the first day to start a salt painting. I demonstrated how to squeeze glue from a bottle, a new skill for many. This project is perfect for newbies to glue because we were basically scribbling with glue. We made squiggles, loops, and dots. Once we were satisfied with the glue on the page, we sprinkled salt all over the glue and then shook off the excess. We set these aside to dry completely. 

On the second day, students used watercolors to gently paint the dried salt. Like magic, the color traveled along the line of salt as it was absorbed. Kids were amazed by this science-meets-art magic trick.

On the second day of the workshop, we used contact paper and tape as our adhesive so that families weren’t traveling home with gluey projects. Contact paper is a great low-mess adhesive option for young artists.

I prepared the contact paper sticky side-up, ready for Mini Makers to stick items to it.

 I then pulled out favorite collage materials including sequins, ribbon, tissue paper, cupcake liners, and scrap papers with paper punches. 

After students designed the contact paper the way they liked, we sealed their art by adding another piece of contact paper on top. To frame it, I added colorful painters tape around the edges. These beauties were ready to hang in a window.

For our last project, I wanted something Mini Makers and their adults could collaborate on together. “Keepy-Uppy” is a Bluey fan favorite game. The point of the game is to keep a balloon in the air. How much fun would it be to design a paddle (like a ping pong paddle) for the Keepy-Uppy game? Both kids and adults were given a thick, sturdy paper plate to decorate with washi tape and dry-fast tempera paints. I loved seeing both kids and adults creating their own piece of art separately but together.

Tape is a favorite sticky art tool in my own house and I just knew Mini Makers would love having an opportunity to design with it. 

When the paper plates were done, we added a painters stir stick as a handle, and I gave each pair a balloon so they could play a game of “Ping-Pong Keepy-Uppy.”

Every kid should have an opportunity to work with glue and other sticky tools like tape before going to kindergarten. In this "Super Sticky" 2-Day workshop, each Mini Maker developed school readiness skills in an environment that was playful and appropriately prepared for a mess making.