Glue Sponge Tips

Glue bottle driving you crazy? Have you run out of glue sticks? Well, I have a solution for you that is a must see – glue sponges! This idea will leave you saying this is the “Best teacher hack ever!”, and, “Life changer! I’ll never go back!”

Follow these directions to make your own glue sponges! A must-have in any kindergarten classroom!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

What you will need:

• snap-tight sandwich containers  – a shallow container is better than a small, deep container.
• bottle of glue
• sponges (Celo brand works great)
• scissors

To make your sponges:

Place the sponge in your shallow container. You may need to trim it some depending on the size. Pour the glue into the bottom of the container. Lay the sponge on top and pour more glue on top. Close the lid and turn them upside down for a day or two. The glue will soak into the sponge. Once that is done they will look like a wet sponge and they are ready to use.

To use the close sponges, teach the kids to slowly dab their papers on the sponge and then stick it down.

Are they messy?

Their little fingers do not get messy when using the glue sponges. If by chance they do get a bit of glue on their fingers, have them rub those 2 fingers together and the glue disappears.

When using glue sponges, there are no glue spills, accidental liquid glue caps coming off, glue puddles or lost glue stick caps! It’s fabulous.

How long do they last before drying out?

We refilled ours every couple of weeks and flipped the sponges over a couple of times a week. They never dried out and many teachers use them all year.

What about fine motor skills?

Well, students are definitely using those little grasping skills to stick the pieces of paper on the sponge. You don’t have to just use these, you also use glue bottles for some projects if you are worried about your students not working on fine motor skills by squeezing the glue bottle.

Other Glue Sponge Tips:

• If your container is deep or too small, it makes it difficult to put glue on strips of paper. Also, you can fit a whole sponge in this shallow square container so you won’t have to cut sponges.

• The 

  glue

  soaks down into the 

  sponge

  so it really doesn’t look like there’s much

  glue

  at all. But there seems to be just enough. Teaching the kids to just press their paper on the

  sponge has worked for us. 

• Spray them with a mixture of mouthwash and water or a mixture of peppermint oil and water every once in a while all year to help prevent them from getting yucky.

• Using glue sponges gives kids independence to use them individually or at their tables and the kids love using them!

Have you tried glue sponges in your classroom yet?