Squashy fun for your little one, aromatherapy for you! (Recipe For Homemade Play Dough)

Member Name: Rosie78

Product:	Recipe For Homemade Play Dough
Date:	15/06/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, good fun for a rainy day

Disadvantages: Leaves a nice sticky mess in your pans!

Here is the recipe I use for home made play dough:

3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp cream of tarter
3 tbsp oil
3 cups water

Put all the ingredients in a pan. Stir over a medium heat until it forms a ball. Knead for a couple of minutes until smooth.

Alternatively, mix the dry ingredients together (your toddler can help with this bit) then pour over the right amount of just boiled water and stir. The mixture should come together pretty much straight away.

Note that the recipe calls for cream of tartar, which is a powder, NOT tartare sauce!

If you want to add colours and smells, you can use food colourings or flavourings. Add them to the water for a solid colour, or add them once the dough is made for a marbled effect. I have made black playdough smelling of peppermints, blue playdough smelling of lavender and orange playdough smelling of oranges! You can also add glitter to the dough.

I'm not sure if this will actually save you any money, play dough is pretty cheap. But it's a great rainy day activity for children to help with (not the boiling water part, obviously!). It's a great thing to make for your local playgroup as well (although change it regularly, threadworms like to live in playdough!). This playdough also makes a great alternative to party bag toys.

This recipe makes quite a lot, I sometimes divide the recipe up into 2, or 3, and give each portion a different colour. You can keep this in an airtight container for about 3 months.

Summary: Get creative with colours and smells in your play dough!