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How to Make Flubber

07/08/2013 By Charlene 32 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.



Here is something fun and easy you can whip up to play with the kiddos. I love Flubber and I find myself squooshing into it when the kiddos aren’t looking.

It only takes 3 ingredients and you can make it in about 5 minutes.  Flubber has an odd consistency- it is squooshy and it sort of bounces when you roll it into a ball.

If you have Play-doh fans they will love this- and the nice thing is that it brings a new texture to little ones making it even more fun.

To make flubber you just need Borax, school glue (2 containers) and food coloring (optional).

Borax can be found in the laundry section of most stores and this box will last you a lifetime.  Borax is not something you want to consume so watch for any little fingers that might be inclined to put this in a mouth.  Also you want to be sure to wash hands well after playing with this.  I find that squirting the kiddos with the sink spray nozzle when you see them considering a bite will prevent future taste tests.  (Kidding!)

To make the flubber grab two bowls and start by adding:

  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 1 cup of School Glue (almost exactly 2 of the containers above)
  • a few drops of food coloring (or skip this and leave it white)

In a second bowl:

  • Add 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoons Borax

You want the Borax to dissolve so start stirring right away or it will clump up in a big ball.

Once you stir to dissolve just add the glue mixture to the Borax mixture.  You can either stir with your hands, the spoon or I dumped it into a big bag so the kids can smoosh it around.

We sort of flopped it back and forth and kneaded like bread dough.  You want to get all the water incorporated so just knead until it isn’t slimey and starts to feel like Jello.

Once that is done it is time to play!  Here is what my kids did once I let them loose:

Sculpting.

Pulling, stretching.

And lots of squooshing.

The kids really like this one and I am glad I made it.  You can pop it into a Ziploc bag once you are done playing and saving it for another day.

And if you liked this craft, here are two others you might try as well:

How to Make Green Slime

How to Make Oobleck - a fun science experiment for kids! Goes along with the silly Dr Seuss book Bartholomew & the Oobleck

How to Make Oobleck (this stuff is really cool!)

And if you ever wonder what things look like behind the scenes at our house- here is a little preview.

I left my husband in charge of watching the Flubber playtime and went upstairs.  He promptly walked away and I hear “Hey Mom, hey Mom!  Look what I can do…”

And I come downstairs to this:

You gotta love it.

Happy flubbering,

 

Filed Under: Children's Activities Tagged With: How to Make Flubber

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Comments

  1. Kelly @ Kansas City Mamas says

    07/08/2013 at 5:16 PM

    Best mom, EVER…

    You truly lost me at ” fun and easy you can whip up”.

    I do believe I have failed my kids… LOL.

  2. Charlene says

    07/08/2013 at 7:02 PM

    Lol- it is never too late Kelly :D. About $5 in ingredients and who doesn’t need an excuse to go to Target anyway?

  3. amanda says

    05/09/2014 at 7:51 AM

    does it really survive for “another day” in a plastic ziplock bag? i’m just wondering how long it will last like that? this looks really cool to make, but wouldn’t want to make it just for one day of play.

  4. Charlene says

    05/09/2014 at 9:26 AM

    Yes Amanda ours certainly did. It really doesn’t take much time to make but we use ours in the kitchen or table in the playroom so my only caution would be to avoid outdoors or somewhere that yours might get dirty if you want to reuse it several times.

  5. zilla woodall says

    06/09/2014 at 4:28 PM

    can you make a recipe for slime with out borax and elmers glue because my little kid she is 7 and a half an so board and likes slme so can you please help me out with that slime

  6. Charlene says

    06/09/2014 at 7:23 PM

    Zilla- the recipe I posted is the only one I am familiar with 🙂

  7. sherri bukovac says

    08/20/2014 at 2:39 PM

    I’ve had a baggie of this for over a year. Like said in comments play with it on a clean surface if you want to save for playing with again. My only advice is beware of your hair and clothing. Have fun.

  8. Charlene says

    08/20/2014 at 4:01 PM

    Wow Sherri you got a ton of use! Awesome 🙂

  9. Anna says

    09/20/2014 at 1:28 AM

    Is there something else you can use instead of the borax glue? Im from europe and its hard to find here.

  10. Charlene says

    09/20/2014 at 7:55 AM

    Hi Anna- I am not aware of a substitute for Borax. What about the Oobleck recipe at the bottom of the post? That would be a fun one to try.

    Here is an article I found– just note they mention Borax has chemicals and then suggest you use fabric softener. Be careful with that because I have always understood fabric softener to be one of the most toxic things you can have in your home 🙂

    http://science.wonderhowto.com/how-to/make-slime-without-borax-5-easy-recipes-for-gooey-homemade-ooze-0147194/

  11. Allison says

    11/08/2014 at 5:04 PM

    I absolutely LOVE flubber, and I use it as a never-fail babysitting idea. It is so irresistible! Just wanted to say, you can get flubber out of clothing with vinegar. Hope this is helpful! ☺☻☺

  12. Charlene says

    11/08/2014 at 5:08 PM

    Ha ha! That is probably very helpful to many. Thanks Allison 🙂

  13. Adamaris Enriquz says

    11/23/2014 at 7:57 PM

    cold you please email me recipes that are not messy I no that is hard but could you please

    Thank you,
    Adamaris

    p.s: I love doing this stuff

  14. Cathy says

    03/11/2015 at 9:23 AM

    Could you tell me how many ounces are in the glue in the flubber recipe? I can get bottles that are 4 oz or 7.6 so I wasn’t sure which size you were referring to in the recipe above? My grandkids are going to LOVE this! I have a board on my Pinterest called “Fun with the grand kids” and they KNOW to go to that board and check out what Grammy has found that’s new! They are going to go nuts when they see this one….so I want to have all the ingredients on hand! LOL

  15. Charlene says

    03/11/2015 at 11:54 AM

    Ha ha. Cathy I use a standard size glue not the large/jumbo size so 4oz should be right. They are lucky to have you 🙂

  16. abby cochran says

    05/04/2015 at 4:38 PM

    looks so fun I want to try it right now!

  17. Sandy Wright says

    02/01/2016 at 5:10 PM

    Thank you so much for Sharing my grandsons are having a ball. I made this twice & both times it looked nothing like the smooth consistency in the picture – kinda reminds me of s globe of brains – anyway if I’m doing something wrong please advise

  18. Charlene says

    02/01/2016 at 8:49 PM

    Oh goodness…. I am not sure why it wouldn’t be smooth. How are you mixing the ingredients? Also are you using a fresh, white, smooth school glue or something else?

  19. Heather says

    03/11/2016 at 9:54 AM

    If you live in Europe you can get borax in chemists I got small tub in local chemist for €1.60 I ordered some more tubs today will be there by tomorrow I searched everywhere online no luck till someone said try chemist. I am in Ireland but I’m sure other countries will be same or hopefully could order some in. P.s. Love this flubber kids had so much fun playing with it today

  20. Charlene says

    03/11/2016 at 10:15 AM

    Yeah! Thanks for the tip Heather. We are planning a trip to Ireland this summer- very excited 🙂

  21. Liesel Chamen says

    04/08/2016 at 10:55 AM

    Hi, would you be able to give me the amount of glue in the bottle? We have different glues etc here in South Africa, so the Borax box size (we dont get these boxes either) vs the glue size doesn’t help me LO!. Thanks

  22. Charlene says

    04/09/2016 at 9:58 PM

    Hi Liesel,

    The one cup measurement is for (2) 4oz bottles of glue. For the Borax it is (2) tablespoons. HTH

  23. Sue Lloyd says

    02/22/2017 at 12:11 PM

    Hi there…my grands and I love doing craft doughs, slim and etc so we’re really excited to try this…but we ended up with a mess that didn’t work! Obviously I did something wrong. Am I clear that there is a total of 3/4 C as well as 1/2 C of water? We did 2 bottles of glue and 2 T borax…help!

  24. Charlene says

    02/24/2017 at 8:02 AM

    Hi Sue,

    Shoot that is a bummer that you had issues. Did you use warm water and allow the borax to dissolve? Did you knead the mixture? It takes a little effort to get all the water incorporated into the ball.

Trackbacks

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I'm Charlene- thank you for stopping by MY FRUGAL ADVENTURES! I am a Mom to two little girls living in gorgeous Northern California. This is a fun place to find simple & affordable inspiration for everything from gifts to home improvement to travel to children's crafts to what's for dinner tonight! READ MORE >>>

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