Homemade Gak

It's been a long winter of illnesses for everyone, so G's been very isolated from the world.  Everyone was healthy, so my sister and I made plans to get the kids together to make homemade Gak!  We both remember making this when we were young, and how much fun we had with it.

We used this recipe over at Lil' Luna.  We experimented by halving the recipe, and it worked out wonderfully!

G had lots of fun just waiting for us to get the ingredients ready!

Homemade Gak
Skills:  sensory, fine motor, life skills

Materials:  
-4 oz. bottle of Elmer's glue (it seems that Elmer's creates the best consistency)
-1/4 cup warm water, and 4 oz. warm water
-1/2 tsp Borax (laundry aisle of most grocery stores)
-medium to large mixing bowl
-a cup


Directions:
1.  Pour the entire 4 oz bottle of glue into a mixing bowl.
2.  Fill the empty glue bottle with warm water.  Replace the cap and SHAKE IT!
3.  Pour the warm water into the bowl, and mix it up.  I found using a whisk worked the best to get it as smooth as possible.  Add a few drops of food coloring while mixing.
4.  Add a 1/4 cup of warm water to a separate cup.  Add the 1/2 tsp of borax, and mix until dissolved.
5.  Pour the borax/water mixture into the mixing bowl with your glue mixture and watch the magic happen almost instantly!
6.  Start mixing with a spoon, but you will end up mixing with your hands to get it nice and smooth, and that's when the fun begins!
*After the kids finish playing, you can put it in a sealed plastic baggie and have it for weeks of fun.*

Em made purple Gak with very little help from us.

G didn't like the texture so much at first, so played with his using a spoon.

He eventually worked his way to touching it, but still wasn't sure about the texture.

We have G's Gak in a baggie and pull it out every once in a while to give him the experience of the different texture.  This is such an easy recipe to make something that your kids will go crazy for!