The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions

by John E. and Danita Thomas

B&H Publishing Group

“Concoctions” is an apt title for this book since it’s not arts and crafts, it’s not science experiments, and it’s not cooking, although it has elements of all three.

All ages can get involved, and parental assistance and direction is a must with just about every concoction creation since some involve cooking, use of potentially dangerous materials, or somewhat “tricky” assembly.

A few examples might help you grasp what concoction might be. A relatively simple example would be “Scratch and Sniff Watercolors” made with unsweetened powdered drink mix and water. Or “Bathtub Finger Paints” made with liquid dish detergent, cornstarch, and food coloring. A bit more complex example would be “Paper Clay.” This is a takeoff on papier mâché that is used to create things like 3-D greeting cards or tree ornaments. There’s another real “Papier Mâché Paste” activity that involves cooking. Some concoctions, like Gooey Gunk and Funny Putty, are just fun to play with. Others like Puddin’ Paint, Fruity Lip Gloss, Make-It-Yourself Stickers, and Tattoo Paint might be at least semi-practical. Most useful are some of the basic concoctions for Instant Finger Paints, Sidewalk Chalk, Poster Paint, and a few types of Play Dough.

Many items are in your household or are easy to obtain—e.g., flour, salt, newspaper, food coloring. Others might require a trip to the store for balloons, sand, tempera paints, gelatin, or less common items like Borax, liquid bluing, and plaster of Paris.

Two important points to note: First, there are no explanations for the scientific aspects of how or why concoctions work; not even for the Instant Volcano. Second, suggestions for what to do with some of the concoctions are fairly minimal: the fun and adventure in some cases might simply be in the creation of the concoction itself. Nevertheless, the 69 concoctions in this book offer hours or creative and original activity, some of which can be used directly as a part of homeschooling, and others that might be used for rainy day, Sunday School, and/or party activities.

I reviewed the first book in this series. Two other titles are available: The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions 2 and The Ultimate Book of Holiday Kid Concoctions.