Gak
I got this idea from Lil' Luna's blog.
Gak. It's like Play Doh, but slimy and stretchy. I made a batch a couple weeks ago while the kids were watching tv, and to my amazement it worked. In under ten minutes I had a homemade batch of gak in a horrible shade of purple (my doing). I carried it triumphantly into the living room and declared, "I've made gak! Come play with it!"
The kids wrinkled their noses at me. And at it. They were highly suspicious of the gak.
When Jolly came home I tried again. "Look! Gak! Want to play with it?"
"Ew," he said.
So much for the gak.
Damn it, I made that stuff and I couldn't help being proud of it. More to the point, I made an effort to be cool and craftsy. I wanted some acknowledgment. I wanted someone to play with it. I kept it in a tupperware container on the kitchen counter, and whenever I found myself standing idly by I'd pull it out and squish it around. I became very fond of my gak... in a totally stubborn way that makes me think I should get out more, but fond nonetheless.
I've been trying, since then, to tempt the rest of the family with the gak. "Here, try the gak!" "Are you bored? Do you want some gak?" "Look at the gak! See what it can do?" Finally, Peanut gave in out of a combination of boredom and, I believe, exasperation. He played with the gak for all of five minutes before returning it to me with a sour expression on his face. "Did you have fun?" I asked eagerly. I swear I saw pity in his eyes as he contemplated my face. "I suppose..." he replied slowly, before backing away.
Last night, I made one last ditch effort to engage the kids with the gak. As they ate their bedtime snack while listening to their father read Harry Potter, I enthusiastically plopped the gak onto the center of the coffee table. "Look, kids! Gak!" Everyone in the room, except me, stared with disgust at the purple blob that started spreading across the table.
"What's it doing?" Jolly asked disconcertedly.
"Being gak!" I replied cheerfully.
Jolly kept reading and the kids continued munching on their Froot Loops. The ignored gak oozed it's way to the edge of the table and strung over the edge like warm taffy - stretching and glopping to the floor, making little, gooey stalagmites next to the rug. Peanut suddenly sat straight and said in a warning voice, "Mom - look at the gak."
Insisting, once again, that the gak was just being gak, I watched the kids creep curiously to where it was spawning smaller, oozing blobs on the floor. They were timid of touching it at first. It's cold and slimy and squishes disturbingly when touched. But the boys were fascinated with how it dripped off the coffee table in long strands, and after a while they had organized the Great Blob Races of Summer, 2013. "Let's see who wins!" Peanut said excitedly to Beaner.
Over and over, the boys scooped their gak off the floor and molded it into piles along the edge of the coffee table, where it once again oozed to the floor. Each of the kids cheered for his blob to be the first to touch.
"Come on, Harry!" shouted Peanut.
"Come on, Hermione!" shouted Beaner.
Thus christened, the blobs now known as Harry and Hermione raced for the title of Fastest Ooze. The game kept the boys entertained for quite some time, and entertained me and Jolly even more. Perhaps I'll make more gak in other, lurid colors and we can have Harry duke it out with Voldemort in slimy style. As far as crossovers go, gak and Harry Potter seem an unlikely pairing, but that sort of thinking outside the box is what makes children's play so interesting.
Overall, I give the gak a thumbs up. It was easy to make, is easy to clean up, and kept the kids entertained for more than 30 minutes - which is as good as it gets around here. I don't know if they'll ever touch the stuff again, but the effort was worth it to hear Beaner struggling to pronounce 'Hermione.'
Gak. It's like Play Doh, but slimy and stretchy. I made a batch a couple weeks ago while the kids were watching tv, and to my amazement it worked. In under ten minutes I had a homemade batch of gak in a horrible shade of purple (my doing). I carried it triumphantly into the living room and declared, "I've made gak! Come play with it!"
The kids wrinkled their noses at me. And at it. They were highly suspicious of the gak.
When Jolly came home I tried again. "Look! Gak! Want to play with it?"
"Ew," he said.
So much for the gak.
Damn it, I made that stuff and I couldn't help being proud of it. More to the point, I made an effort to be cool and craftsy. I wanted some acknowledgment. I wanted someone to play with it. I kept it in a tupperware container on the kitchen counter, and whenever I found myself standing idly by I'd pull it out and squish it around. I became very fond of my gak... in a totally stubborn way that makes me think I should get out more, but fond nonetheless.
I've been trying, since then, to tempt the rest of the family with the gak. "Here, try the gak!" "Are you bored? Do you want some gak?" "Look at the gak! See what it can do?" Finally, Peanut gave in out of a combination of boredom and, I believe, exasperation. He played with the gak for all of five minutes before returning it to me with a sour expression on his face. "Did you have fun?" I asked eagerly. I swear I saw pity in his eyes as he contemplated my face. "I suppose..." he replied slowly, before backing away.
Last night, I made one last ditch effort to engage the kids with the gak. As they ate their bedtime snack while listening to their father read Harry Potter, I enthusiastically plopped the gak onto the center of the coffee table. "Look, kids! Gak!" Everyone in the room, except me, stared with disgust at the purple blob that started spreading across the table.
"What's it doing?" Jolly asked disconcertedly.
"Being gak!" I replied cheerfully.
Jolly kept reading and the kids continued munching on their Froot Loops. The ignored gak oozed it's way to the edge of the table and strung over the edge like warm taffy - stretching and glopping to the floor, making little, gooey stalagmites next to the rug. Peanut suddenly sat straight and said in a warning voice, "Mom - look at the gak."
Insisting, once again, that the gak was just being gak, I watched the kids creep curiously to where it was spawning smaller, oozing blobs on the floor. They were timid of touching it at first. It's cold and slimy and squishes disturbingly when touched. But the boys were fascinated with how it dripped off the coffee table in long strands, and after a while they had organized the Great Blob Races of Summer, 2013. "Let's see who wins!" Peanut said excitedly to Beaner.
Over and over, the boys scooped their gak off the floor and molded it into piles along the edge of the coffee table, where it once again oozed to the floor. Each of the kids cheered for his blob to be the first to touch.
"Come on, Harry!" shouted Peanut.
"Come on, Hermione!" shouted Beaner.
Thus christened, the blobs now known as Harry and Hermione raced for the title of Fastest Ooze. The game kept the boys entertained for quite some time, and entertained me and Jolly even more. Perhaps I'll make more gak in other, lurid colors and we can have Harry duke it out with Voldemort in slimy style. As far as crossovers go, gak and Harry Potter seem an unlikely pairing, but that sort of thinking outside the box is what makes children's play so interesting.
Overall, I give the gak a thumbs up. It was easy to make, is easy to clean up, and kept the kids entertained for more than 30 minutes - which is as good as it gets around here. I don't know if they'll ever touch the stuff again, but the effort was worth it to hear Beaner struggling to pronounce 'Hermione.'
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