As a child, my mom used to make play dough for me to play with which I just loved. I clear memories of it today: having to wait for it to cool down enough for it to be handled, tasting it (I know, I was a play dough eater), and just squishing it through my fingers. I cannot find my original recipe, but looked on line and found this one, which looks fairly similar. Maybe make some over this holiday break!
Basic ingredient ratios:
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar (optional for improved elasticity)
food coloring
Mix all of the ingredients together, and stir over low heat. The dough will begin to thicken until it resembles mashed potatoes.
When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle.
IMPORTANT NOTE: if your playdough is still sticky, you simply need to cook it longer!
Keep stirring and cooking until the dough is dry and feels like playdough.
Knead & color
Turn the dough out onto a clean counter or silicone mat, and knead vigorously until it becomes silky-smooth. Divide the dough into balls for coloring.
Make a divot in the center of the ball, and drop some food coloring in. Fold the dough over, working the food color through the body of the playdough, trying to keep the raw dye away from your hands and the counter. You could use gloves or plastic wrap at this stage to keep your hands clean- only the concentrated dye will color your skin, so as soon as it's worked in bare hands are fine.
Work the dye through, adding more as necessary to achieve your chosen color.
Play and store
It's entirely edible, if a bit salty, so it's kid-safe.
When you're done, store your playdough in an air-tight container.
- If it begins to dry out, you can knead a bit of water in again to soften the dough back to useability. Once it's dried past a certain point, however, you'll just have to start over; thankfully it's not terribly difficult.
- If it gets soggy, you can re-heat it to drive off the extra water the dough absorbed overnight. This is usually the result of high humidity, but is fixable!
You can also bake it in the oven to make hard dough figures and ornaments, then paint or otherwise decorate the surface.
The Artsy Acorns
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