Moms are always looking for fun, easy and inexpensive activities to do with their kids. What kid doesn’t like play dough? Seriously, have you ever met a kid who doesn’t like it? Our friends over at Family Sponge are kindly sharing their DIY play dough recipe with us. http://familysponge.com is made up of IT moms Jada and Jen. Family Sponge is a family and community blog which focuses on personal growth and family well-being and development. We highly recommend their blog! They’re one of our favorites. – Tee
Sensory activities are very important for children. It helps their brains tangibly relate to the world, calms them down when they are over-stimulated, and brings out the artist in each of us. A simple sensory activity that you can do at home is play dough. I grew up with my mom making play dough and I wanted to carry this tradition down the line. It’s simple, cheap and exciting for kids to watch flour transform into a blob of play dough.
Play dough recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 cups water
2 tablespoons oil
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food coloring
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a pan and stir. Cook over low heat, stirring until a ball forms.
2. Set on foil and let cool for a minute.
3. Separate dough into equal parts. Add food coloring and knead thoroughly until desired color.
4. Store in covered container (we use old Play Dough containers and Tupperware).
Basic ingredients (the cream of tarter forgot to make an appearance).
When you combine all the ingredients, this is what it looks like at the beginning (a little funky).
Yet as you continue to stir it over low heat, it binds together and starts looking like play dough.
I like to fold the play dough up a little so that when I put the food coloring in it there is a place for it to pool up (I like a lot of food coloring!). Just be careful when kneading it that it doesn’t squirt out.
These are the colors the play dough turns when using basic food coloring (I bought mine at Target).
My daughter, Clare, loves play dough with cookie cutters, a rolling pin, plastic knife, and random plastic cups. My four year old son, Jackson, likes to make sculptures out of play dough, like snowmen and bowling pins. We just got a Play Dough Burger maker for Christmas, yet they don’t even like using it (go figure).
Common mistakes:
1. Tampering with the measurements: I have done this and it makes a difference. The texture and stickiness is off and it just isn’t good.
2. Not heating through: Make sure the play dough is on the stove long enough for the salt to dissolve. Some recipes say to take the play dough off the stove once it is warm, but that doesn’t work for me. It leaves a granular texture if I do that (which you can actually see in the picture over!). Keep cooking slowly until it is a smooth consistency.
3. Wearing nice clothes: You don’t want to get food coloring on your nice shirt, so throw on an old shirt just to be safe.
– Jen of Family Sponge
Vuew the original post at http://familysponge.com/artdiy/play-dough/
6 comments
Awesome! I love the vibrant colors!
My girls would love to make their own play dough – plus, the fact that they could create their own colors would be a huge hit! Thanks for sharing. =)
I heard you can make colors with kool-aid packs and then they smell good too! They also have organic food coloring.
I always get a little OCD when my daughter mixes the store bought play dough. But for some reason when we make it at home, I don’t mind mixing the colors.
Love this take on baking with the kids in the kitchen. My daughter would LOVE this!
I can’t wait to try this with my kids! Thanks for sharing. I read once that you could also add scents with oils to the dough – maybe I’ll try peppermint.