The following
are tried-and-true recipes for making homemade playdough.
Play dough has much play value for young kids. Its tactile,
pliable qualities satisfy the senses and the creative
possibilities are endless! Making play dough at home is not only
economical and practical, it's satisfying. The superior recipe
provided here is one we have personally used and enjoyed many
times over. You won't be disappointed.
This recipe
produces a smooth, tactile dough that is long-lasting:
Homemade
Play Dough Recipe (superior):
Mix
together:
1
cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
Mix
until you have a smooth paste. Cook on medium-low heat in a
saucepan, stirring, until the dough pulls away from the
sides of the saucepan and forms a ball. Take the saucepan
off the burner and let cool for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the
dough is cool enough to handle. Remove the dough from the
pan and knead it for a few minutes. Voila! You have a
superior homemade play dough. Store the dough in a plastic
sealed container or a plastic ziploc bag.
Add color
to your dough, if desired:
Use food color
to add color to your play dough. This can be done by adding food
color to the water before cooking the dough, or you can knead the
color into the dough (this second option produces a marble
effect).
Homemade
Play Dough (basic/quick):
Mix
together the following ingredients until the dough reaches
the desired consistency:
1
cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of salt
1/2 cup of water
1-2 teaspoons of cooking oil
This
is a quick dough that doesn't last as long as the superior
dough recipe above.
What to do
with the dough? Just letting kids play as they want with the
dough is sufficient. Tools are fun as well, such as play rolling
pins and cookie cutters.
For an added
educational bonus, you can provide kids with alphabet cookie
cutters so that they can cut out the unique shapes of the letters
of the alphabet.

Sets of cookie cutters in the forms of familiar animals, letters of the alphabet, numbers, and
familiar objects are available, such as the Wilton Animal Pals
50-piece Cookie Cutter Set by Wilton. Because they're plastic, you can also
allow your preschooler to use the cutters with play-dough.
[For more information, user
reviews, or to buy:Wilton Animal Pals 50-Piece Cookie Cutter Set
at Amazon.com]
See also: Homemade Clay
Recipe
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