How To Make Homemade Gak (Borax Free!)

Make Homemade Gak For Under $5!

Did you ever play with Gak as a kid?

I did! It was lots of ooey-gooey fun as well as an excellent sensory activity! I decided to make it for my kiddos this week and they LOVED it! I found several Gak recipes around the blog-o-sphere that use Borax as one of the ingredients. I’ve read a lot of mixed information about the safety of using Borax around kids so I was happy to find this recipe that doesn’t call for it. I made a few adjustments and it turned out great!

Ingredients:

• 2 (4 oz.) bottles of Elmer’s Glue (About $.75 each at Walmart in the school supply aisle) 
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup liquid starch (About $3 at Walmart in the laundry aisle)
• Food Coloring (I had on hand) 

You will also need:

• glass or plastic bowl
• spoon
• measuring cup
• Something to protect your work surface (table cloth, cutting board, baking sheet ect..)

Empty all of the glue into your bowl.

Add your food coloring and stir together until blended. I only used a little bit (4 drops I think) of food coloring so it wouldn’t stain our hands when playing with it.

Gradually add the starch, A LITTLE AT A TIME, while stirring with the spoon or kneading with your fingers as the mixture thickens. The original recipe calls for a whole cup of starch but I tried that and it turned out really soupy. I made another batch with only 1/2 to 3/4 cup starch and it was just right!

Keep stirring!

You might need to get your hands in there and knead it to mix in the rest of the starch. You may not even need the entire 3/4 cup. It should look like this when you’re done!

The fun begins!

When your kiddos are done playing, simply store the Gak in an air tight container or Ziploc bag. I’ve been storing mine in the fridge but I don’t think you have to… My total cost to make two batches was $6. I still have lots of liquid starch left so I would only need to buy more glue next time. It was definitely more fun to make it than buy it!

Have YOU ever made Gak? Do you have any tips or tricks?