A low temperature glue gun, also known as a cool glue gun, opens the doors for way more fun crafts with kids. It’s safer than using a regular hot glue gun and they often are available in kid-friendly models. And this Surebonder glue gun came with colored glue sticks!
Safety note: Don’t let kids use any glue gun unsupervised.
Here’s what we found out.
I was more thrilled than a grown-up should probably admit when I opened the package to the colored glue sticks. Colored glue! Hello. The world of possibilities opened before me like the red carpet at the Met on the First Monday in May. I immediately wanted to share this cool glue gun and colored glue with my favorite kid DIYer, Delia. She’s a crafty girl who has made a swing for her stuffed animals and loves decorating frames with charms and sparkly bits. I knew she’d have a project that would test this properly.
She wanted to decorate jewelry boxes for Mother’s Day gifts. Perfect! While I lined the boxes with black felt, she got to work on decorating the boxes. Her feedback? She thinks the Surebonder cool glue gun is great and easy to use for anyone over 7 years old. She also thinks someone new to crafts would have an easy time with it. The size was perfect especially for small hands and smaller detailed projects.
Look at the glue gun she had been using (below). It’s her dad’s shop glue gun that’s heavy and cumbersome for a 9-year-old crafter, and it’s a bit dangerous as it’s super hot, too.
Watch the video of this craft project.
Kickstand is cool.
One of the best features on the Surebonder glue gun is the integrated kickstand. It made it easy to set aside between gluing charms on the jewelry boxes. Plus, like the rest of the glue gun, it doesn’t get hot so it’s safe to set down on a table. For this project, I cut open cereal boxes to use as a work surface so glue wouldn’t have a chance to get on to the dining room table.
Can draw with the colored glue sticks.
The best part? Drawing with the colored glue sticks was our favorite part of using the cool glue gun. The colors are saturated and come in a pack like a basic Crayola pack. While Delia really liked all of the colors, she thought more color choices would make it even better. Personally, I vote for pastels and some metallics.
Changing the glue from color to clear takes time.Â
One of the frustrating parts about the colored glue, is that changing between the colors means there’s some melted glue inside the glue gun that needs to be pushed out on to scrap cardboard. This wastes the glue, and it takes some time to clear it through. If you are planning to use a color and a clear glue, we recommend getting two glue guns. Dedicate one for clear and the other for color.
Can’t burn myself (unless holding on to the tip for a while).
Delia was a little nervous about inviting her sister to craft with us at first, because her sister had never used a glue gun before and she didn’t want her to get burned. With the cool temperature, it’s almost impossible to burn skin. You’d literally have to hold your finger on the tip for a while, and even then…you still might not be able to burn skin. It’s a safe glue gun for kids and new crafters.
Make a marble-like effect with colored glue sticks.
One of the fun parts of using just one glue gun for multiple colors, is that we discovered we could make a marble-like swirl color mix-up. If you are looking to create a fun pattern and a unique look for your fun craft projects, these colored glue sticks are an inexpensive way to amp-up your decor game.
Get the Surebonder Ultra Low Temperature Cool Shot Mini Glue Gun at Amazon.
