sunday kids' craft: making gum

My oldest is a HUGE fan of gum!  If there was a fan club, she would be the president . . . or at least the vice-president.  Typically, she gets to chew about two or three pieces of sugarless gum a week, but I think she would chew a piece of gum from morning till night if I let her.  A while ago, I heard that it's possible to make your own bubble gum at home.  So I found the various supplies needed and waited for the right night for us to experiment.  Tonight was the night . . . we added bubble gum making to our list of Sunday kids' crafts.  It took us a while to find the right recipe and technique, but this is what we came up with.

You can find the following supplies at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, you local grocery store or commercial food supplier or on the web (this is my favorite option because they are delivered right to your door):

--gum base pellets**

--corn syrup

--flavoring** - watermelon, grape, strawberry, mint, etc.

--powdered sugar

1) Put 1 Tbsp of gum base pellets in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 50 to 60 seconds or until pellets melt.  (You might want to use a disposable bowl because it takes an amazing amount of persistence to get the melted gum off.)  Stir until smooth and sticky.

2)  Add 1 tsp of corn syrup to sticky gum base.  Microwave for 15 seconds until easy to stir.  

3)  Add 3/4 tsp of flavoring.  (This measurement is for powdered candy flavoring.  You can also use liquid but start out with only a drop or two and add more according to taste.  Another GREAT option is powdered kool-aide mix.  We did watermelon.  Yum!)  Add 1 1/2 Tbsps of powdered sugar.  Stir until partial blended.  Then knead together with your fingers.  My daughter had so much fun with this part!  As mixture gets too sticky and stuff, add more powdered sugar to make less sticky and a few drops of warm water to make less stiff.  Knead until smooth and stiff.  

4)  Taste.  Knead more powder sugar or flavoring in if necessary.  Knead lots and lots.  The more you knead the chewier the gum will be.  

5)  Roll gum between hands until you have a long cylinder.  Flatten.  Cut into small pieces.

6)  Put powdered sugar in a bowl and rolls the pieces of gum in the sugar until they are covered.

7)  Cut rectangles of tin foil.  Place one piece of gum into one piece of tin foil.  Wrap and twist ends.  Put into airtight container until ready to chew.

We had so much fun with this activity.  My daughter is five and had no trouble helping with all the different steps, so track down those supplies and . . . 

craft on! 

**UPDATE**

I've had a number of questions about where to get gum base pellets.  Ahhh . . . let your search begin.  I found them locally - well, locally as in two hours from where I live.  However, I also found a site where I will buy them from in the future so that they are delivered right to my door . . . laziness at its best.  The first product on this site's page is for a gum making kit . . . if I had only known.  I'm actually not sure if this is worth it.  I'm not sure what their recipe is, and the other products included in my recipe can be found at my local stores.  So that brings me to the second item on this site's page which is gum base pellets in one pound bags.  Buy this bag and you will have enough base to make gum for your child's entire class . . . for the next five years of school.  Go for it! 

Also, I tried a batch using plain old kool-aide for flavoring - perfect!!!!!!  Just use your own measurements to taste and you are ready to chew.  I recommend trying to find the dye-free, clear kool-aide mix though unless you are ready for a catastrophic color clean-up.