A Sticky Question
Posted by Diane Badden on 18 May 2010 | Posted in: Organization and Supplies
I’ve got a sticky question for you—very sticky indeed! It has to do with glue. 
Yesterday I was chatting with a colleague about the symbols we often include in directions for our younger learners. You know the ones: a pencil for “Write,” a crayon for “Color,” and so on. That’s when we realized the quandary of whether to show a glue stick or a glue bottle.
There seem to be clear pros and cons for each type of glue. The liquid stuff can be messy and definitely takes longer to dry, while the solid stuff is less messy and dries much more quickly. But when it comes to cost, it seems like liquid glue wins hands down.
So my sticky question for you is this: where do you weigh in on glue?
Sticking around for your replies!
Diane
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32 Responses to “A Sticky Question”
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More Comments Pages: [1] 2 3 » Show All Comments
I ask the parents to supply glue sticks. For most paper crafts they are easy to use. I don’t however consider them to be mess free. Sticky hands and sticky desks still need to be cleaned. For other projects I use tacky glue. It is less runny than regular bottled glue and dries quicker. When my first graders are putting “googly eyes”, “jewels”,etc. on projects, I go around the room and put dots of tacky on their paper. I find that this keeps mess to a minimum. It also gives me the opportunity to admire their work.
I believe that glue bottles teach the children more so than the stick. We will use the stick sometimes. I think when we use the stick the art work will not stay together very well.
KIm I love your little poem dot to dot not a lot. I have been using it. Depending on the activity depends on whether is stick or bottle paper activities —stick activities that need sturdier bond— bottle.
When we use liquid glue we chant, “dot-dot-not a lot” to avoid too much and a mess. Two dots of glue is plenty for just about everything we’re gluing. The children catch on quickly and chant to themselves as they use the bottles too!
I prefer bottle glue. I use the lids from old playdough containers to put a small amount of glue on. The kinder kids dip one finger into the glue. If they have too much glue, they wipe their finger on the top side of their hand. They love pulling glue “skin” off their hand. It is cheaper and the projects actually stick together. Glue sticks don’t stick as well and projects tend to lose parts. When the glue dries in the lid, just pull it out. Easy clean up and they are stackable.
Glue stick hands down!
I prefer glue stick. When they dry up and we have to throw them out, we don’t throw out the lids; we keep them as spares for when lids go missing.
My supply list includes both a glue stick and a glue bottle. I invested in 24 glue dabbers 10 years ago and they have worked wonderfully. Glue Dabbers are red glue bottle toppers that replace the standard orange tip that most glue bottles come with. The glue dabbers allow only one dot of glue to come out at a time. This saves on glue and prevents messy clean ups. I keep the glue dabbers and reuse them every year. A few have cracked over the years and I have had to replace them. Most teacher supply stores sell them!
This is for linda…Crayola makes a glue bottle that does not clog (Crayola School Glue)! I get mine from classroomdirect online. It works great and really does not clog! I tend to use glue sticks for my 2nd graders for the day to day cut and paste activities. I use glue bottles for the heavy duty art projects. And I remind them “A little dab’ll do ya!”
I use both types. When I do use liquid glue, I put them in the plastic mustard and catsup bottles that you use for BBQ’s. If you put some vaseline on the inside of the cap and around the edges, they don’t clog and the kids love using the catup and mustard!
I too prefer liquid glue with my second graders - however I would love to invent a bottle that doesn’t clog! It is extremely frustrating and takes up so much time trying to unclog glue bottles.
Most of the time I have my kids use a glue stick. It dries quicker, and it’s less messy, particularly with cut and paste activities. I also like them to use the purple glue that dries clear so they can see where they’re putting the glue. If a worksheet has a picture of a glue bottle as part of the instructions, my kids know to use a glue stick. I only use glue bottles in my art center. I do a small group lesson at the beginning of the year to teach them how to use “baby dots” of glue. I make dots on a strip of cardstock for the children to use as a guide for how big the dots should be. When they fill their strip with “baby dots” of glue, I sprinkle the dots with glitter to say, “Good job!” Sometimes for bigger projects, I will tell them, “A baby dot won’t hold it. You need to use a ‘mommy dot.’” They’re REALLY excited when they get to use a “Daddy Dot!”