I use my interactive notebooks in my classroom for math and once my kids started using these glue sponges, we no longer had the mess of drippy glue puddles and stuck together pages! It’s amazing! Here’s how to assemble the tubs…
First, you need some plastic containers with lids that snap on to keep the glue from drying out. I use one sponge for each container. These are just the dish sponges that you can pick up in the soap/detergent/cleaning aisle of Target/Walmart/K Mart/etc.
Next, pour a bottle of Elmer’s “drippy” glue onto the sponges and let it sit for 24 hours to allow the sponges to soak up the glue. Make sure the lids are snapped on.
That’s it, they’re ready to go! They will last you the entire year! You may need to add more glue, depending on how often your students use them. You may also need to spray them with water a couple of times to prevent them from drying out. When the kids need glue on a piece of paper that is being applied to a project or worksheet, all they do is take that piece and rub it on the sponge. Then they stick it on their worksheet or project. Super simple, right?
Feel free to use the image below to pin to your Pinterest board for future reference!
How does the glue get on the paper? Do they rub their pieces to be glued on the sponge?
Yes, they rub that piece on the sponge. The sponge soaks up the glue so it's not so wet and drippy. I added this explanation to the blog post. Hope that helps!
I'm with Cathy…how do your students apply the glue from the sponges to their paper? I haven't seen these yet, and now I'm gonna have to do a Pinterest/Google search; I'm intrigued!
Did you do a Pinterest/Google search? The piece that you want to glue gets rubbed onto the sponge and then applied. Hope this helps!
I pinned this idea about a year ago and didn't use it, but I'm determined to do it this year! Thanks for the reminder and step-by step instructions.
Always Primary
You are very welcome Debbie! I hope you find success with these in your classroom this year!!!
OMG your grandfather is the cutest thing ever and HOW SWEET that he's your biggest fan?!?! (I HAVE to be your 2nd biggest. period :)) Thanks for the shoutout, girl!! You are the best!
Ashley
Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd
Isn't he sweet? And yes, you are the next on the list! 😉 I'm getting excited for that giveaway of yours! I just have a feeling that it's going to be AMAZING!
Do you wet the sponges first? Someone on Facebook said not to.
I did not have to wet the sponges at all. I would say that they were a little damp coming out of the package but I did not need to add any additional water. Thanks for your question!
I did wet mine first…then squeezed as much water out as I could. I then put the sponges in the containers and added glue. The next day I turned the sponges over and they were good to go! As someone else pointed out, you will need to spray the sponges with water occasionally and “reload” them with glue. I also turn my sponges over every now and then.
Oh My Word!!! I have been using glue sticks this whole time and have going through them like water!!! I am so glad I found this post! Thank you thank you! I am RUNNING to the store right now!
Yay Tara! That is exactly how I felt when I discovered these for the first time too! I can't believe how much glue this has saved me this year. Not to mention how much of a mess that I am no longer dealing with! I'm glad you found my page and post!
This looks fantastic! Would PVA glue be similar to Elmer's 'drippy' glue?
What is PVA glue? I guess I'm not familiar with this.
Yes, PVA glue is the same as Elmer's 'drippy' glue.
Wow ,nice angie….This sure will make the art activities easy for the children.can we rub our finger on the sponge and glue it on paper
Yes, exactly Mariam! No more sticky fingers and a mile long line at the sink to wash the mess off!
I would like to try these next year. Quick question. Has any of your kids ever dropped one on the floor? I was just wondering if all of the glue was absorbed into the sponge /and or /how big the mess is if someone accidentally pushes it off the table? Thanks!
Hey Jen! Yes, I have had them dropped on the floor and as far as the mess goes, it all depends on how much glue is in the container. If it is dropped on the floor, tipped over, and sits there for awhile (with quite a bit of extra glue in the container), then yes, you will end up with some glue on the floor. The sponge sticks to the container pretty well and there really isn't too much of a need to have that much extra glue outside of what the sponge soaks up. I hope that makes sense. I think that they are far less messy than glue bottles!
Hi I love the glue sponges. Do you make new ones very year or can you use them again for another year. I'm trying to decide what to do with all the ones I have. I'm not sure if they would still be good for next year. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I want to know this too!
Would love to see images of the sponges with the glue soaked in and the kids using them. The creation of the sponges is easy to picture in my mind even without your excellent step by step images, but the utility of glue sponges is hard to imagine.
I'm interested in this. I almost always use the regular Elmer's glue and try to teach the kids about "baby" dots, but inevitably, some kids drip big blobs clear until the end of school. I didn't see where it said how much glue to use? 4 oz, 8 oz? Thanks!
Thank you so much for the detailed description. I'm thinking about hot gluing the sponges to the bottom of the container. I'm also curious if you can use them year after year! Does mold ever start to grow? The glue I have in my classroom has caps that really don't seal, so the glue always dries. I find myself soaking another couple of glue caps every single day! I'm hoping this will work for my students and me. Thanks again!
Glue sponges are life changing!!! This is my first year using them, and they are amazing! (Especially for kindergarten!)
This 5th grade teacher thinks you Kinder teachers ROCK! Thanks for the glue sponge idea.
This 5th grade teacher thinks you Kinder teachers ROCK! Thanks for the glue sponge idea.
I've had the same set of glue sponges all year. No mold problems at all. I take those almost-empty glue bottles, add a little water, and use that solution to recharge them when they start to dry out. So much less waste.
I've had the same set of glue sponges all year. No mold problems at all. I take those almost-empty glue bottles, add a little water, and use that solution to recharge them when they start to dry out. So much less waste.
Does each student get one or do you have a glue station?
Hi Leslie. I have enough glue sponges for each pair of kids to share one glue sponge container. Hope that helps!
you could cut up the sponge and use smaller pieces for little jobs and little hands.
Which size Elmer’s Glue bottle do you use? Thanks! Preschool is looking less messy now!
Hi Deb. I actually purchased a large bulk container of Elmer’s glue and reload the glue sponges with that as needed. Hope that helps!
What if they have a large piece of paper they have to glue?
Hi Tina. The large pieces of paper we still use a glue stick or bottle of drippy glue.
Hi, Tina, My little firsties are clever. For the larger pieces of paper, they just invert the container so the sponge is on the lid, and gently press the paper to the sponge, lift it, move it, and press again. (I had considered teaching this, but one of the kids figured it out and shared with the others first!) I don’t have lots of extra glue in the bottom of my containers because, well, they’re kids, and I can just see the messes happening. So I spray/reload frequently. This will be my third year with the same sponges. (I have had some get a little mold, so I toss those, but to help combat that, I spray the sponges with Listerine. That seems to help and it leaves a nice scent!)
In the words (word) of my 2nd graders, this is EPIC! I am making some of these for my groups. Now can you help speed up the cutting process? 🙂
I saw this post last year but never implemented the idea. This year I found some great containers at the Dollar Tree and I’m going to get brave and do it. We do a lot of gluing in First Grade and this year I hope to add a Math Interactive Notebook to our Grammar Interactive Notebook.