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
Liquid glue may be messy but it not only is way less expensive, it also provides great opportunities for development. Squeezing the bottle develops hand strength and learning to control the flow develops both fine motor and impulse control. Glue sticks may dry quickly and be easy to use but those advantages take a back seat to enhancing development! They are great for teacher work though!
It truly depends on the project. Some surfaces or the heaviness of the paper involved do not stick well if you are using a glue stick. Therefore, I have them use liquid glue. Most projects I’d rather have them use a glue stick, but many times we don’t have enough!
Tap-n-Glue tops are awesome. They go on a regular glue bottle and you just press and squeeze the bottle and a limited amount comes out. It is the best thing for preschoolers!
I like to have my students use both, so they know when each is better to use!! Glue sticks are great for paper on paper, and learning how to put a little glue stick on WITHOUT getting it all over the place is very helpful! Same goes for the liquid glue–a little goes a long way and I love when my students FINALLY get it!! 🙂
I like to use glue bottles. I think it’s good for the kids to learn how to use them. We always say “A dot not a lot.” It really helps with the hand-eye coordination and how to control things.
It depends on the project, really.
When we do use the bottled white glue, I tell my kids to use a chocolate chip size. It seems to help with knowing how much because they can visualize a chocolate chip.
I buy a ton of glue sticks in the summer when they go on sale for 2 for a quarter. If you keep them sealed in the packages they can last for 2 years or more. I bring them out a few packages at a time as we are getting low.
Also, white glue goes on sale at the same time (usually a bottle for 10 cents or a quarter) and unopened, it will last a long time too.
I save my change all year long and then spend it on these super cheap supplies. I don’t feel the pinch in my pocketbook, but still can get the supplies that I need for my kids. Our supply list, especially of glue, is never enough for the year.
I use both depending on the project. I tell my kids a little dab will do you. But of course when some kids get glue they just love to squeeze.
I go in September and buy tons of glue sticks for 2 for 20 cents. I am lucky the school reimburses me for them.
Yes, it does depend on the project and how messy we want things to get. I have on occasion used liquid glue with spreaders which helps cut down on the amount.
I agree that it depends on the project. A good way to help students use the right amount is to say “Dot Dot, not a lot.” It is a fun way to help students remember not to use a lot of liquid glue.
I have glue sticks on the tables for the students to use on a day-to-day basis for cut and paste activities. I also have glue bottles for more involved crafts with different supplies. I find the glue sticks are great to keep on the table so you don’t have to distribute each time you do something that involves a little bit of gluing. But the white glue sticks better and I think it’s important for children to learn to use it properly (my grade 5 reading buddies didn’t know how to use it…probably because they always used glue sticks).
I have a collegue who always put her glue in baby food jars and the students used popsicle sticks to get it out. It did cut down on a bit of the globbiness caused by the bottles, but seems like an awful waste of popsicle sticks to me!
where can one find tap-n-glue tops??
I use the 1.25 ounce bottles of glue that you can find in the grocery store with my kindergartners. The first few times we glue at the beginning of the year, I stress using a drop near each corner, and then we practice “in between”, or as many drops as needed, and where to place them. We also practice not “making a flood by having the glue squish out of the edges.” These small glue bottles are the perfect size for their little hands, and I just refill them from an empty paint bottle with a nozzle on the top. When glue sticks first came out, they did not work as well as they do now, so I have a definite preference for glue.
I’m going to take a different approach to this question. I believe a glue bottle would better represent the glue media than a glue stick. A glue stick could be easily misunderstood.
In agreement with all of the other responses, I also use both types with my preschool – school age children.
In our class, we use “5 dots, not a lot!” with bottle glue – one dot for each corner, plus one dot in the middle. For stick glue, we started the year by using a ruler and drawing a box around the edges, then drawing an “x” inside the box. The students then traced over the lines with their glue. This makes sure that each student has enough glue to keep the paper down, but also that they glue exactly where we want them to, rather than covering the entire paper in stripes of glue. Now they know “a box and a x” for stick glue.
We use small plastic fruit cup containers for the liquid glue. We then use small paint brushes to put the glue on the project. It is still messy at times (4-5 year olds), but the projects stay together better then with glue sticks which I use on paper projects like worksheets. Both the paintbrushes and fruit cups can be washed and reused.
In my K class I use bottle caps and q-tips. I put white glue in a bottle cap, one q-tip cut in two therefore 2 sticks per cap and two students share. I never have messes with glue. It is very economical and the kids quickly learn that not much glue is required for their marterpieces to hold up. It has been working for me for years! Voila!
A baby dot does a lot. I teach my students this rhyme and that is how we glue all year! It ever fails by November whenever there is gluing the kids are repeating to each other the rhyme 🙂
I prefer to use glue bottles. It’s not that I don’t like glue sticks, but I hate having to worrying about them drying out or loosing the cap. I think that the students need to learn how to use bottled glue too. Plus it is so much easier to clean up and keep track of. I don’t allow my students to keep them in their desks, so they are held in a bucket on top of the groups desk. Also I label them with their names. In addition at the beginning of the year, I teach them,”Dot, dot, not a lot. Too much glue makes me blue.” It is a great way to make them remember to not use a lot. Plus we practice at the beginning of the year. But I love throughout the year, listening to them repeat the poem all the time when we are working with glue.
um…..whatever they have available that was sent from home. Dont’ teachers seem to have and worry about the silliest of problems 🙂
Hello Diane,
I must say that glue sticks may appear to be the neater choice, but I’ll go with glue bottles! Using a glue bottle (rebus) is my preference!
As for the uses: I visit the dollar discount stores and buy small containters used for holding jewelery beads, etc. They usually come in a packet of 10. They are about 1.5 inches square and have a removable lid. Then I look for packs of paint brushes. Together, I can pour any amount of glue in the containers and let the students “brush” on the glue where needed. When we are finished, the snap-on lids can be used, or we just wash out both containers and brushes for the next glue project! It saves on the big bottles of glue being oozed out all over a project as well as allowing students an opportunity “paint” on glue only where needed! I’ll stick to this until a better idea comes along!!
Catherine *~*
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!”
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.
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!
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!”
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!
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.
Glue stick hands down!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.