Need a Tried-n-true Recipe for Gak/goop

Tammi:

What a coincidence....I just got this e-mail from my daughter's kindergarten teacher yesterday!

I hope it works (my little girl said she LOVED playing with it!)....

Today was Dr. Seuss’s birthday! We celebrated by doing several projects and reading my favorite book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck. The story is about King Derwin of the Kingdom of Didd who wanted to create something new from the sky. He was sick of rain, snow, sun, and fog and wanted something new to fall down from the sky. He called his Royal Magicians from the top of Mt. Neka-tave to create something new. The Royal Magicians made “Oobleck” and we did too!

Oobleck is more commonly known among science teachers as the name for a substance made of cornstarch and water that has the peculiar ability to act like a liquid and solid at room temperature. Scientifically speaking, Oobleck is a type of polymer. This means that it is made of very long chains of repeating molecules. Oobleck is also a non-Newtonian fluid, which means that its ability to flow changes when different amounts of pressure are applied to it. More simply, if you squeeze Oobleck, it will become brittle and crumble. If you just let it sit in your hand, it will drip and run like thin white school glue. Sound interesting? Try making some and explore it for yourself!

What you'll need
2 Cups Corn Starch
1 Cup Water
1 Quart-size Zipper Locking Bag
1 Baking Pan (a small shallow Tupperware container works too)
Optionally you can also add a few drops of liquid food coloring to color your Oobleck green, like in the Dr. Seuss book.

Procedure
Add the cornstarch to the zipper locking bag.
Slowly pour the water into the bag.
Gently knead the bag to mix the two substances. It should feel like thick pancake batter. Add more cornstarch if it is too thin or more water if it contains lumps of powdered cornstarch.
Add a few drops of food coloring if desired. Pour the substance out into your baking tray.
Poke your finger into the Oobleck. What happens? Try to take a pinch of Oobleck from the tray, squeezing your thumb and index finger as hard as you can. How does it feel? Pick up a handful of your amazing creation, let it drip from your fingers. Don't be shy, explore what you can do with Oobleck!
Removal Procedure:

This would explain why children might have a greenish-tent to their hands. It is very easy to remove. Simply wash hands about 3 times in order to remove. If not, I have found that using nail polish remover also works faster but obviously children need to be supervised.

D.

Here's the couple of recipes that I found for goo and flubber. Have fun making a mess!!! =)

“Goo” Recipe
• Measure out 5 teaspoons of water into your cup. Add 2–4 drops of
food coloring to the water.
• Add 1/4 level cup of cornstarch and swirl the cup to level the
contents. Set the cup and contents aside for about a minute so it can
settle. Begin cleaning up your area.
• Mix the ingredients with spoon to ensure an even consistency. Stir the
mixture thoroughly to make sure there are no lumps.
• The “goo” should flow like a liquid when the cup is tipped but feel like
a solid when touched with your finger. Add cornstarch, a small pinch
at a time, if the mixture is too runny. Add water, 1/4 teaspoon at a
time, if the mixture is too thick to flow. As the mixture sits out, it will
dry out a bit, but can be reconstituted with water (add sparingly).
• Don’t dispose of the “goo” down the drain in any sink. It will clog up
the drains.

Flubber
Mix: 2 cups white glue (use clear glue for clear flubber) with 1 ½ cups water
Separately mix: 1 cup water with 3 teaspoon Borax, 20 Mule Team
Pour Borax mixture slowly into glue and water mixture. Stir with hands. Mix a second batch of water and Borax and pour in also. Keep kneading until it congeals and is solid. It shouldn't stick to your hands. You can add food coloring, glitter, etc., although it changes the consistency and elasticity somewhat. Use a glass bowl so the kids can watch the chemical reaction in process! Really cool stuff! Great for birthday parties!

Half Recipe Measurements:
1 cup glue
3/4 cup water
1/4 tsp food coloring
________________________
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp Borax Quarter Recipe Measurements:
1/2 cup glue
3/8 cup water (just under 1/2 cup)
1/8 tsp food coloring
________________________
1/4 cup water
3/4 tsp Borax

Gak
http://www.recipezaar.com/59671

Ingredients
1 cup white elmer glue
1 cup liquid starch
food coloring

Directions
Put glue and food coloring in a plastic container.
Add starch a little at a time, stirring constantly.
Keep stirring until mixture hold together like putty.
Test with fingers, if too sticky add more starch in small amounts until mass is smooth and rubbery.

I seem to remember a mixture of elmers glue and liquid starch and food coloring.

Scouting is such fun. Soon you'll have a Scout to kick to the woods camping.Due to health problems I had to stop Scouting.I loved the camping.I had 2 older Scouts that would deliver coffee to me in the mornings. Memories of life time. Husband and son are Eagles. Many of our troop 82 earned eagle

I would go with simply cornstarch and water with a few drops of food coloring. Adjust the consistency with the amount of cornstarch. It turns out to be quite a dynamic goo!

Tammi,
I always used equal parts of elmer's school glue and sta-flo liquid laundry starch. If it's too sticky, add more starch - if it's too slimey, add more glue. Good luck!
-M.

Ellen had a science guy on her show not too long ago that had a mixture of corn starch and water and was showing how it worked. If you punch it, it becomes solid, but you can sink into it if the force isn't quick enough. They even made a giant vat of it and had a lady run across the top a few times.
Good luck and have a great time playing!