Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21360 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 80 pages

Amazon.com Review
Jewel and Gem Goop. Make-it-Yourself Stickers. Tornado in a Bottle. Funny Putty. Fruity Lip Gloss. Magic Muck. Snow Globe. Scratch & Sniff Watercolors. Believe it or not, it's possible--easy, in fact!--to make every one of these "wacky, wild, and crazy concoctions" (and 57 more) using common household ingredients. John E. Thomas and Danita Pagel have pulled together the cream of the crop of potions, clays, and all-around weird swills for the pleasure of children and scientists of all ages. Why not introduce the very youngest artist of the house to the world of art with Puddin' Paint? Is there a geologist in the house? Make an Instant Volcano--begins with a fizz, then erupts in a bubbling flow of lava. Time for a bath? Try Bathtub Finger Paints--bathers and the tub will get clean at the same time! These truly amazing concoctions are not mess-free, but they guarantee hours of absorbed, lively, creative fun, and inspiration for a lifetime of imaginative endeavors. Brief scientific explanations would have been a welcome addition, but maybe young readers will be motivated to explore the chemical, physical, and geological origins of these experiments on their own. Adult supervision is recommended for all projects. (Ages 5 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 4?A collection of more than 65 easy-to-make concoctions. Although some of the projects need to be heated and others, such as the Tropical Rain Stick, call for the use of a hammer and nails, most are mixtures or chemical compounds made with common kitchen supplies, such as shortening, corn syrup, cornstarch, food coloring, gelatin, and dish detergent. Many of the concoctions resemble products found in toy stores; e.g., Gooey Gunk, sidewalk chalk, finger paints, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. A general safety warning is placed at the beginning of the book. The cartoon line drawings show the project in use, but do not clarify the instructions. Sheila Ellison and Judith Gray's 365 Days of Creative Play (Sourcebooks, 1995) and Nancy Blakey's Lotions, Potions and Slime (Tricycle, 1996) include similar mixtures. With its clean layout and clear directions, this is a user-friendly project book for creative youngsters.?Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
John E. Thomas and Danita Thomas left their corporate jobs years ago to pursue the dream of writing and developing the Kid Concoctions books and related media products. Since then, they have sold more than four million books and made hundreds of national television appearances including frequent spots on HGTV, Discovery Channel, and QVC. John and Danita are also the winners of four Parents' Choice Awards and four Dr. Toy Awards. They live with their four children near Cleveland, Ohio.

Customer Reviews

A must-have book for the classroom and at home!
I am a middle school science teacher and the parent of a first grade daughter. This book serves a dual purpose for me as a mother and a teacher. My daughter LOVES the Snow-paint and Sidewalk Chalk recipes--and many more! While I am able to teach liquid suspensions with a really cool follow-up activity using the Snow Globe recipe! I also appreciate the recycling recipe for using up old bits of used crayons! I give this book an A+

Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts!
Why does my kitchen look like Dexter's Laboratory? Because my 8 year old loves to cook up his own 'recipes', mixing and zapping all kinds of concoctions.

When I saw this book, I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad I did! It helps to keep the experiments in-line. There are almost 70 easy, cheap, interesting recipes in this book.

The author cautions that adult supervision is needed - definitely true since although the ingredients are pretty much common to the household, they include some that are messy to handle and sometimes a stove or glue guns are used.

We leave our book on the kitchen table, and before running an experiment, my son checks to see if we have the ingredients. Food coloring, corn starch, white glue, funnels, rock salt, water are scattered throughout the book (the only addition I'd make to this book would be a checklist of common ingredients, to add to my grocery shopping list!)

A favorite for the little kids (under 7) is the shaving soap/food coloring/egg carton/paint brush in the bathtub combination. Instant watercolors, with just 2 ingredients (water and food coloring) is also popular or instant finger paints, with liquid starch, powdered paint and freezer paper.

For older kids, jewels and gems can be made of white glue, the ever-present food coloring, and rock salt and given as gifts. They can make their own stickers with water and gelatin, or use coffee grinds, flour and a few other very ordinary things and make Treasure Stones, to hide gems or secret messages in, and give to friends (or teachers, or family).

Clean up and prep for most of these are easy enough a child could do it! (As I tell my son). The index in the back separate concoctions by type (Toys; Paints; Dough's; Edible Concoctions; Putty, Clay, Pastes; Other).

This is a collection of shared recipes, so there will be some you already have. But there are 70! (So unless you're a homeschooler or a teacher, there have to be some new ones).

All the recipes are in one place, and the directions are easy enough for a child (6 and up) to read.

We aren't even halfway through, but we love this so much, we ordered Book Two. Recommended for entertainment, education, gift giving, too!

Fun for ALL ages!
My son is only 4 years old, but there isn't anything in the book that we could not make together, AND what's more have fun playing with together. Our favorites so far are the funny putty, the gooey gunk, and the texture filled balloons. I would not go so far as to say that the items required by the recipes are everyday household items though. However, I did not mind sprucing up my pantry and craft closet to have a special stash just for these fun recipes. It would be interesting to have an explanation as to why some of these chemistry reactions occur, also any pertinant warnings to prevent accidental spills or carpet mishaps.