I love it when homeschool lessons happen by accident. The other day, my husband and I were talking about random things we remembered from childhood, and somehow the conversation turned into Gak. If you grew up in the 90s, you probably remember it instantly. The weird texture. The bright colors. The gross noises. Peak childhood entertainment.
I tried explaining it to my kids which immediately turned into me pulling up old Nickelodeon Gak commercials on YouTube. The commercials were absolutely ridiculous in the most 90s way possible. Loud, chaotic, weird, and kind of hilarious. My kids thought they were so funny, but it also made them really excited to try making Gak themselves. And just like that, we had a homeschool lesson.
Instead of just making slime and calling it a day, I decided to lean into it a little more. I made a Canva presentation about Gak, non-Newtonian fluids, polymers, and media literacy. We compared old toy commercials from the 90s to commercials and influencer marketing today and talked about how different advertising feels now.
It ended up leading to really fun conversations about what childhood looked like in the 90s versus now. The kids were fully engaged the entire time because it did not feel like a “lesson.” It felt like they were getting a peek into our childhood while also doing something hands-on. Truthfully, those are my favorite kinds of homeschool days.
How We Made the Gak
We used:
- 1 cup glue
- 1 cup water
- Food coloring
- 1 teaspoon borax
- 1 cup warm water
First we mixed the glue, water, and food coloring together. In a separate bowl, we mixed the borax with warm water.
I will say dissolving the borax took forever. Even after about 20 minutes it still was not fully dissolved, but we took the homeschool mom “good enough” approach and kept going anyway. We made little tweaks to the water until the consistency felt the closest to the original Gak I remembered.
The kids loved every second of it.
They stretched it, squished it, bounced it, and tested whether it behaved more like a solid or a liquid. We talked about how Gak is considered a non-Newtonian fluid because it changes depending on the force applied to it. Slowly stretching it made it ooze like a liquid while pulling it quickly made it snap more like a solid.
The Best Part
The science was fun, but my favorite part was getting to introduce my kids to something from my childhood. I used to love Gak as a kid, but we never had it at home because let’s be real, it can get messy. I mostly remember playing with it at daycare or summer camps. So getting to share that with my kids while also turning it into a lesson was really cool.
And they did not lose interest after the activity was over either. They stored their slime in Ziploc bags and played with it on and off for about a week afterward. After making it, I realized you can use almost the same ingredients to make homemade bouncy balls, too. So now the kids already want to try that next.
This whole thing reminded me that some of the best homeschool moments happen when you follow your kids’ curiosity and your own nostalgia a little further than you originally planned.
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