Gooey Gak

Have you ever made Gak?  Well, if you haven't, it's fun - especially if you have kids!  It is a cool science experiment involving a chemical reaction that results in a stretchy, squishy, bouncy blob that is irresistible to play with.  If you keep it in a airtight plastic bag it lasts pretty much indefinitely, so you can play with it more than once.    

To get started you will need:

Elmer's School Glue- about 8 ounces

Borax Laundry Booster

Food Coloring (or you could just make white Gak)

Plastic Ziplock bags

a container to mix the borax with water

a container to mix the glue and water

Newspapers (to protect your table)

After you lay your newspapers down, you can squeeze the glue into your first container.  Aim for about a half a cup of glue.  

Mix in an equal amount of water, about a half cup. 

Mix it up. 

Put 1 Tablespoon of Borax into 1 cup of HOT water. Mix well until dissolved.  Then add an additional 1 teaspoon of Borax and dissolve.  Keep adding additional teaspoons of Borax until you can't get any more to fully dissolve.  

Divide the glue and water mixture evenly into ziplock bags (I made 3 bags).  Add a few drops of food coloring  to the glue- make whatever color you want.  Green tends to be the most popular color for Gak.  

Next add 2 Tablespoons of Borax solution to each bag.  

Zip the bags shut and mix well until the liquids turn into a solid. It should only take a few minutes.  If needed you can add more of the Borax solution or pour off the extra if it won't all soak in.  

This is some cool stuff- it looks like a solid, but it flows like a liquid.  It might be a bit stringy at first, but after you play with it for a while, let it sit overnight in the bag and it will turn out even smoother and more fun to play with.  

I hope you have fun with this!