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This homemade Gak recipe is sure to entertain the kids for hours!! The gooey slime is completely squishable, and making it is half the fun.
Our family loves playing with this slime so much, we even made a glittery version! You can also turn this into an inexpensive but cute gift.
Entertain the Kids for Hours!
With it being Summer here in AZ, things are getting pretty HOT, and the kids aren’t as excited to play outside, so I thought it would be fun to make Homemade Gak – aka Slime (It’s something I made all the time with my cousin growing up!)
It is so EASY and literally takes 2 minutes to make, but has provided HOURS (and I’m not even joking!), HOURS of entertainment! Every day, for a week now, the kids have played with this gak for at least an hour each day.
I’ve pulled out plastic cookie cutters and they go to town, and guess what?! I LOVE it! It’s hardly any mess! Here is how you can make DIY Slime/Gak as well!
Ingredient Tips:
- Glue: Just use the good old classic white Elmer’s school glue. Nothing special! Off brands will work just well.
- Borax: Sometimes stores don’t always carry Borax. You can order it on Amazon, or Walmart.com! One box will last a really long time.
- Food Coloring: Gel food coloring definitely works WAY better than the regular liquid food coloring! I got Betty Crocker Neon Gel Food Colors and they worked FAB!! The Neon made it look awesome, but I ended up squeezing almost half the tube into the mixture because I wanted it to be really bright.
How to Make Gak:
- PREP. Gather all your supplies together.
- GLUE + WATER. Begin by emptying the two bottles of glue into a bowl. Then, fill bottles with warm water and shake. Empty into your bowl.
- COLOR. Add some food coloring to the bowl of glue and water, then set aside.**
- BORAX. Add 1/2 cup warm water to your plastic cup. Add 1 tsp. borax to the cup of water and mix until borax dissolves. Then, pour this into your glue bowl and start stirring. You will notice how it starts becoming stringy. Keep mixing by using your hands and squishing the mixture around. A few minutes, it will become pretty gelatinous.
- PLAY! Let the kids play with it for a bit and it will become the perfect GOOEY consistency!
Storing Tips
Keep the gak stored in a sealed container or ziploc bag. It should last for at least a couple weeks, but it may start to develop an odor by then.
Activities to Do with Gak
Not only do the kids have fun pulling, kneading, and squishing the gak, you can also use it for activities like:
- Trying to form/sculpt shapes
- Using cookie cutters to cut the gak into shapes and figures
- Cut it with scissors
- Separate it into multiple pieces and practice addition and subtraction
- Create imprints in the gak with plastic bugs, shells, beads, and other objects
A Note of Caution
Although homemade gak is an extremely easy activity for kids to create themselves (my kids who are 10 and older have no problem making this all by themselves), I would be careful with smaller children who may try to eat the gak.
The borax contained in the recipe is a soap used for laundry, and it’s toxic if ingested. So be aware of little ones who may try to eat the slime!
So fun and so easy!! This is seriously the best homemade craft/project I’ve done with the kids in a long time. It doesn’t smell and get all over like other gooey substances and it’s so fun to play with! PLUS, it is super cheap to make!
Gotta love cheap entertainment! 😉
For more fun kids activities, check out:
Homemade Gak
Ingredients
- 2 4 oz Bottles of Elmer's Glue
- 1 tsp Borax (found in the laundry detergent section of the store)
- Water
- Plastic Cup
- Bowl
- Food Coloring
Instructions
- Gather all your supplies together.
- Begin by emptying the two bottles of glue into a bowl. Then, fill bottles with warm water and shake. Empty into your bowl.
- Add some food coloring to the bowl of glue and water, then set aside.**
- Add 1/2 cup warm water to your plastic cup. Add 1 tsp. borax to the cup of water and mix until borax dissolves. Then, pour this into your glue bowl and start stirring. You will notice how it starts becoming stringy. Keep mixing by using your hands and squishing the mixture around. A few minutes, it will become pretty gelatinous.
- Let the kids play with it for a bit and it will become the perfect GOOEY consistency!
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How much does this recipe make
I don’t think I’ve ever measured it or anything, but the ingredients make plenty for one person. I was able to fill about 8 4oz capsules, so I guess it makes close to 32 ounces. I usually make one batch/kid. If they’re smaller kids, you could split it, between 2 kids. It just depends on how much you want them to play with. Hope that helps!
Can I add the food coloring after? i was thinking i can just make a big batch of white gak then separate it between my boys and they can color their own, would that work?
The coloring needs to be added when it is being mixed together. I don’t think it’d get mixed in real well, once it has formed into the gak. I haven’t ever tried, so I can’t be certain, but that’s what I would think. One batch is the perfect amount for one person, so usually I let them pick their color and I help each kid with their own. Let me know if you do try coloring it after. I’d love to know!
I love so much!!!! So easy!!! Thanks!
Yay!! We love how easy it is and love that it keeps my kids entertained!! Thank you!
I’m so glad I followed your instructions. I agreed to volunteer for the 8 year old boys class for our Police and Youth Day Camp on tomorrow. I was out of options and thought of this gak. Your instructions were great. Of course, I had to try it out first before I presented it to the eight year okds. I wish I could post a picture of the gak I just made. The kids are sure to love this tomorrow.
This would be great for that!! I’m glad you tried it and it turned out!! They’ll love it!! Thanks for sharing!
Looks like a lot of fun! I have a 3 yr old. Quick question: is Borax safe to touch e.g. to lips, nose, eyes, etc? It does say “keep out of reach of children” on the box.
It is tons of fun!! I wouldn’t recommend it getting on faces. Not sure what would happen, but it’s probably not the best. I usually measure that part:)
I was wondering how much one batch makes? Im making it as kids favors and have 4 ounce jars and Im not sure how much I would need to make. If you wouldnt mind getting back to me, that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Sorry to get back to you so late. Did you try making it? I haven’t divided the gak like that before, but you could easily fill quite a few 4 oz jars with it. If you tried that, I’d love to know how many you got out of it.
We made this today and it turned out beautifully. Any advice on how to store it to play with it later?
Great, it’s super fun, huh? We store ours in plastic containers. Kids can play with it for weeks in there. Hope that helps!! Thanks!!
Hi, any suggestions for a replacement for Elmer’s glue? Cant find it in SA.
Unfortunately, we’ve only tried Elmer’s glue. Sorry – wish we could be more help. 🙁
Hi!
For step 2, you say to ‘fill the bottles with warm water and shake’ I’m assuming you’re referring to the glue bottles… Is this equivalent to adding warm water without using the empty glue bottles? I bought a large bottle of glue and don’t want to buy more little bottles if I still have glue. 🙁
Thank you so much!
This works so well and my brother loves it so much!