Homemade Gak

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Winter is here . . . and it is CRAZY cold in Utah! The HIGH temperature for the day doesn’t even reach 20 degrees and the low in the morning is usually a negative number. I try not to take my kids anywhere and so we are forced to find things to do to entertain ourselves.

The best part about this craft is that it seriously took less than 3 minutes to throw together and it entertained my kids for 2 straight hours! I am not even kidding!

To make your own gak, this is what you will need:

-2 (4 oz) bottles of Elmer’s glue (or one big 8 oz bottle like mine)

-1 teaspoon Borax (I bought that huge box of Borax at WalMart for less than $2. You can find it on the laundry detergent aisle)

-Water

-Food coloring

Empty your bottles of glue into a big bowl. Then fill the empty bottles with warm water, shake it up and dump it into the bowl with the glue. Add some food coloring (the more you add, the more vibrant your gak will be). Set the bowl aside.

Fill a cup with 1/2 cup of warm water. Add the 1 teaspoon of Borax and mix until the Borax is dissolved. Pour the Borax mixture into your bowl and start stirring (I used a big wooden spoon to mix it up). You will see that it will start to get “stringy”. When it becomes difficult to stir with a spoon, continuing mixing with your hands. Keep squishing it and kneading it until it starts to become gelatinous.

The more you play with it, the more “gak”-like it becomes!

I occasionally let my kids play with Play-Doh, but I hate it because it smells funny and when it dries out, it leaves a huge mess behind. This Gak doesn’t smell at all and it doesn’t dry out or leave a mess behind! When we are done playing, we just put it in a large Ziploc bag and save it for another day! It is awesome!

Kristyn over at Lil’ Luna also has a cute idea to give this Gak as a gift . . . you can check it out here.

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Questions & Reviews

Rachel O. says:

How fun!! I'm always looking for some good ideas for my nieces and nephews and this is perfect!! So excited to try it out for them!
Aimee says:

oh my gosh, what a great idea! I loved playing with gack as a kid!
Muggy says:

Will any powdered detergent do? I could not find Borax
Katie says:

I do this with my students in Chemistry, and it is always one of their favorite labs! The Borax can be hard to find sometimes, but Target always seems to have it - usually on a bottom shelf near the laundry detergent, but not always exactly next to it (which I found out one day after searching for it for about 20 minutes one aisle over from where it was!)
Ashley says:

I really love this idea. Thanks for sharing. Definitely going to try this weekend with the kids because I am so tired of the Play-Doh drying out and getting stuck in the carpet, so thanks so much again for sharing!!!
Camille says:

I am not sure- I think that it has to be Borax because of the ingredients in Borax and the chemical reaction that it has with the water and the glue.
Kath Terauds says:

how much water exactly?
Six Sisters says:

You fill up your empty glue bottles with water and add that in, which is 8 ounces. Then later in the recipe you will need 1/2 cup of water to add the 1 teaspoon of borax. Hope this helps. It's so fun to play with.
-The Six Sisters
Crystal says:

So fun!! Thanks for sharing :)
Jocelyn says:

Ooh, I'm so excited about this! I loved this stuff as a kid, and now my kids can play with it too!

- Jocelyn @ jocelynandjason.blogspot.com
Angie Henderson says:

Does the coloring leave any residue? Like if they play over my tablecloth will it stain? I rarely use food coloring because it scares me.
Tracy from CityofMotherlyLove says:

My son made this is in preschool last year, and they made it in combination with reading "Bartholomew and the Oobleck", by Dr. Suess. Instead of calling it Gak, they called it Oobleck, and the kids had a BLAST!!!!

Thanks for linking up to the City of Motherly Love Thursday Linky party (cityofmotherlylove.blogspot.com). I really appreciate it!!!
Sinea says:

This is really cute. What a great idea. Thanks so much for stopping by Ducks 'n a Row and linking up. We have a blog hop every Wednesday. Would love it if you'd come by again. I'll be seeing you on Saturday, too!
Blessings,
Sinea
http://www.ducksnarow.com
artclubblog.com says:

Looks so cool, and I love the colour!
Ashley says:

This is a great idea--my 5-year old will love this! Thank you so much for linking up at What's In Your Kitchen Wednesday.
Erika Monroe-Williams "The Hopeless Housewife" says:

What a fun activity for the kids! Thanks for linking up with us this week!
Camille says:

You would be fine to not use any coloring at all, if you want! It won't be a very fun color, but it would be the same gooey texture. I used a lot of food coloring and the kids played on my white countertop and it kind of discolored the countertop, but I was able to clean it off with some scouring powder. I hope that helps!
Shelley Rampton says:

will this leave the kids hands stained? I was thinking of having my Sunday School class make it, but don't know if the moms would appreciate their hands getting all stained.
Shelley Rampton says:

will this leave the kids hands stained? I was thinking of having my Sunday School class make it, but don't know if the moms would appreciate their hands getting all stained.
Six Sisters says:

Hi Shelley, It would depend on how much food coloring you put it. I used about a half a bottle of green and it left a faint outline on my white counter. You don't need to add color or just put a little in to make it a fun light shade. You can totally leave it white and for sure not have any problems. But I think you would be fine just coloring it barely. Sounds like a fun Sunday School to me!!! :) Hope this helps.
Erika Monroe-Williams "The Hopeless Housewife" says:

We chose this fantastic idea as one of our favorites from last week's link party! Thanks a million for sharing and feel free to grab a button if you'd like! :) - Erika

http://www.thehopelesshousewife.com/our-favorite-links-for-12113/
http://www.thehopelesshousewife.com/linkparties/link-party/
Ashley Phipps says:

LOVE this!! I've got to make this with my kids!

Thanks for linking up! I am showing it off on my blog tomorrow!

Ashley
www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com
cheryl b. says:

We just made this and I used gel food coloring (just a few drops of blue and red for a nice lavender) and it didn't stain anything at all. Thanks for this, they had great fun! Unfortunately the 11 year old (of course it would be the oldest) discovered why you shouldn't use it as a hat ROFL.
Lisa Rusczyk says:

Thanks! That was super easy!
Jean Poylini says:

Such a great idea! I've been implementing these ideas lately too and its amazing how something so simple is so helpful! I want to start a page as your ans recently I asked a web design company ELCO PLANET (www.elcoplanet.com) to develope the page for me.. I was just interested for web hosting.. can you please advice me about web hosting provider.. have you ever heard for www.elcoplanet.com offering hosting, alfa reseller hosting... ? thanks a lot
Rachel Kaylynn says:

My children play with play-dough almost everyday. You are so right about the mess - we bought a handheld vacuum just so they could start cleaning it up themselves. Excited to try this gap recipe as an alternative. Thanks for sharing!
Heather Owens says:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! We can not play with playdoh here due to celiac disease (it is made with wheat, primarily, and my husband and I are both sensitive to wheat). It would contaminate the whole house badly. Also, I hate salt dough, it has a gritty texture and is a pain to make. This Gak stuff is the most amazing stuff ever! For about 3 bucks (get the 4oz glue bottles at Walmart, it is the cheapest cost per ounce) we made 3 batches of Gak (one per kid) and a sick day went from unbearably whiny to fun. Plus, we threw in a chemistry lesson about changing the properties of substances. Thank you again, this was SO much fun!!!
Jo H. says:

When I taught elementary school, we made a version with corn starch. Don't recall any glue, so it was less expensive.... the texture was a little different; the fun equal!
Sushje says:

I enjoy your site. I work as a sub in a preschool and remembered this idea from when my own kids were young. I was happy to find your recipe as I planned to make it for my grandsons. . . until my now grown daughter warned me about Borax being absorbed and toxic and asked me not to do it. Please read the recent Government warning, they offer a safe substitute, cornstarch, that makes it just as well. http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/health/admin/news/PDF/HealthNewsBorax2013.pdf
mary says:

I have followed these directions to the tee and my water does not absorb in to glue I put the borax with 1/2 cup water and start stirring and I get a ball of lite colored glue hard what I'm I doing wrong.
Sue says:

Mary I having the same problem..... followed instructions and have a ball of hard glue that snaps, the water and glue have separated... is there anyway to rescue it or do I just throw it away and never try this again.
tammy says:

looks adorable! but can't find 'borax' in my country....any ideas for substitutes? cornstarch maybe?
Jackie Schneider says:

Have you ever tried this with glitter glue? I was curious is anyone has and if the results were the same. This looks like fun.
Jessica says:

I took child care in high school and we made this with sta-flo liquid starch. I cant remember the measurements but i believe all it was, was glue, sta-flo and food coloring
Amanda says:

How many kids does this yield ?
Cyd says:

We used one batch for 2 kids. If they share well, this could be enough for 3 kids.