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Sensory Play with Floam and Gak

sensory play with floam

My kids love sensory play, and especially non-messy sensory play, so I seized the opportunity to give Nickelodeon’s newly reformulated Gak and Floam a go. I remember both from my own childhood, and had actually owned the original Floam (Mike remembers playing with Gak).

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Sensory Play with Floam and Gak

sensory play with floam

The kids thoroughly enjoyed testing both products! They weren’t interested (so far, at least) in creating objects with Floam to dry and keep, but they enjoyed stretching and molding it, and they found the micro beads fascinating!

sensory play with floam

One note about the Floam: you have to prep it first, and for some reason the Rockin’ Red is incredibly messy. You can see evidence of this in both the container and on the mat. Blazin’ Blue and Electric Yellow weren’t nearly as messy during prep, and made no mess after prep. The red still turned things slightly red for an hour or so after prep.

sensory play with Gak

As much as my kids liked Nickelodeon Floam, Gak was the clear winner in our house! They loved the way it stuck to their skin and would suspend in mid air – and it’s stretchability:

sensory play with Gak

They have also enjoyed making air bubbles in the Gak, and popping them – fun noises as well as textures to explore!
Floam has a slightly sticky texture, but the Gak is delightfully smooth – and, while damp-feeling, not slimy! It also washes out beautifully with warm water, as I discovered when Johnny stuck it all over his t-shirt (by accident). The Floam remained stuck to a couple of shirts after being run through the wash (in fairness, I didn’t try rinsing with plain water first).
Our Floam has reemerged once or twice, but the Gak gets played with over and over!
Here are their first reactions to both products – which we were sent as samples to try through Team Mom:

 
Do you remember playing with Gak or Floam?

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

23 thoughts on “Sensory Play with Floam and Gak”

  1. We had Gak. It came in a cool star-ish container that was great for making fun gakky (ok, farting) noises. Floam wasn’t as popular in our house. This post brought back great, fun memories!

  2. We got floam (I think) 2 years ago as a birthday present. It’s been played with exactly once – it was rather messy! I love how Johnny copies Emma in the video :)

    1. This is a new formula, and it is probably neater. The red was the only one I had any trouble with. I remember the version I played with as a kid being messy, though!

      Yes, Johnny is quite the fan of his big sister :)

  3. I remember silly putty!

    Love the video, their reactions, and how you interact with them : ) & thanks for the warning about the red Floam! An idea for something to do on a rainy Saturday maybe : )

    1. It’s a great rainy day activity! I’ve been amazed at how much the new textures have sparked their imaginations – all sorts of storytelling going on during play!

    1. I think he would have a blast with either one – Gak makes some pretty random noises, which he might particularly enjoy :)

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