Cooking with Kids: Flubber

Okay, okay.  I know this isn't food, but it is one of my favorite rainy day recipes for the kids.  It's a fun change up from play dough and it keeps the kids entertained indoors when the weather is too bad for playing outside.  I've been making it since my oldest (now 15) was a toddler and every time I make it, I'm surprised at how much I enjoy "playing" with it too.  My kids laugh at how I can't seem to resist putting my fingers in the cool rubbery concoction and "helping" them.    :)   

I was a little nervous about finding Borax, since I wasn't familiar with it at first.   It should be easy to find in the laundry aisle of the grocery store and thankfully only cost a few dollars.  Afterward, you can use it freshen up your laundry or keep it available for future flubber making! 

Click here for printable recipe. 

The ingredients:

MIXTURE #1:
1 cup liquid Elmer's glue (about 2 bottles (4-oz.) each)
3/4 cup water
food coloring

MIXTURE #2:
1/2 cup hot water
2 tsp. Borax (find in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores)

Directions:  Stir mixture #1 together

and in a separate bowl, stir mixture #2 together. 

When both are well combined, stir the two mixtures together.

First it will thicken slightly, then get lumpy,

 
then eventually (within a minute or two) it will mostly coagulate together with some liquid remaining separate.

Allow mixture to sit for 20-30 minutes, then drain off any remaining liquid. 

 
Watch the fun begin!

I give it to them on a plate or cookie sheet with a variety of  cookie cutters, a butter knife, and marker lids to poke holes in it.  As long as it stays on non-fabric surfaces, it is actually quite easy to clean up (it's not sticky at all).

 (It will not stick to clothing.  In fact the only trouble you might have with it is if it gets ground into carpet or gets left on a fabric surface for a long time. Also beware of using too much food coloring which could potentially cause stains.  We've never had trouble with that though, since the mixture holds the color well. )

   Store in sealed container.