Christmas Present: Making Gum

One Christmas present for my children was a STEM kit for making chewing gum. My two youngest got to work since success promised a sweet treat for them at the end. The oldest still has braces so he could not enjoy the final product.

While we heated up and hydrated some of the ingredients, the kids made a small volcano out of powdered sugar. The sugar provides the sweetness for the gum.

Happy workers

Hard workers

Warming and hydrating (from top to bottom)

The kit came with corn syrup that needed to be as liquified as possible, so we put the packet in a bowl of hot water. The kit also came with gum base that needed to soak before heating up, so we put that in a bowl of room temperature water. After a while, we drained off most of the water and microwaved the gum base until it turned into a sticky ball of goo. The instructions warned us that the bowl would be very hard to clean afterward, so we used one of the bowls we are thinking about getting rid of. The next step was mixing the gum base and the corn syrup.

Measuring out the right amount

Blending the sticky with the stickier

Once we had one ball of sticky goo instead of two separate sticky ingredients, we added a flavor packet (watermelon for this batch). Then we had to put the gum mixture into the powder-sugar volcano, kneading in the sugar to make the gum less sticky and more sweet. Again, we used an old cookie tray that is almost past its usefulness, just in case we couldn't get the gum off.

Not like the ball drop at New Year's Eve

Mixing gum and sugar

Next, we rolled the gum ball into a gum rope for easy slicing into small pieces. The kit came with wax paper to cut down to size to make wrappers. Labels were also included.

Cutting the gum into individual servings

Finished product

More finished (and some unfinished) product

The instructions explain that the gum base is made up of polymers (long molecular chains) that are intertwined tightly at room temperature, making them a solid. Adding heat increases the energy in the polymers, straightening them out and making them more flexible and more able to absorb other ingredients like sweeteners (sugar and corn syrup) and flavors (the watermelon powder).  

The children had a fun time making it and enjoyed the gum for several days afterward.