4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Homemade Flubber (Day 1)
We kicked off our 4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun series by making Homemade Flubber.
In case you’re scratching your head wondering what I’m talking about, “Flubber” originated from Disney’s 1961 film The Absent-Minded Professor (I’m not sure that I’ve even seen the movie, but I’m familiar with the storyline!).
My children were totally stoked about this project. Getting to play with slimy goop? Yes, please, bring it on!
They were highly motivated to finish their chores and to-do lists for the day in order to get make Flubber (or “icky” as Silas dubbed it!) And they all loved making it.
Our first batch flopped because we didn’t completely dissolve the glue in the water. But we still got some slimy goo from it that children thought was very cool.
The second batch actually looked like it was supposed to. And everyone had a blast playing with it.
The only problem was that 3-year-old Silas got a little “into “it and started flinging it on the wall and letting it drip all down the front of him.
So my advice to you moms is: if you decide to try this recipe, do it during naptime or when your really young ones are otherwise occupied. Or, let them play with it outside in old play clothes and then let everyone have a water fight afterward to clean themselves off. 🙂
Homemade Flubber Recipe
- 1 1/2 cups warm water, divided
- 1 teaspoon Borax
- 1 4-oz. bottle glue (we used both Elmer’s glue and cheap off-brand glue and both seemed to work well)
- food coloring
Dissolve Borax in 1/2 cup warm water. Set bowl aside.
In another bowl, pour the entire bottle of glue into one cup warm water, add a few drops of food color, and completely mix together. Mixture should resemble a thin paste with no globs of glue still intact.
Pour Borax mixture over glue mixture. Start stirring and it should immediately begin turning into a slimy mixture.
Once it’s mixed together and resembles slime, allow your children to have fun with it — preferably outside or at the kitchen table.
Store leftover Flubber in a ziptop bag for up to two weeks.
Note: Adult supervision at all times is a must with this recipe as Borax is toxic. Check the comments for other non-toxic alternatives.
Original recipe from Whitfield’s Home in the Country.
Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.