Making Homemade Playdough

Kids love play dough.  It’s a fact.  There is something about squishing that cold mushy stuff between my fingers that brings out the inner child in me as well.  Last weekend, my girls and I made 2 batches of this play dough, because heaven forbid we should share anything!  They each wanted to get out their own pans and be in charge.  I love spending time with them in the kitchen and hope that someday they love the kitchen and cooking as much as I do.

I was pleasantly surprised with the consistency, as I’ve never myself made play dough before. It is so much better than store bought stuff; the consistency and moisture holds better. Next time I think that I will insist on making only one batch, as 2 batches made 2 gallon sized Ziploc baggies full of play dough. Needless to say, we were giving some away to the neighbor boys…

Here’s what you’ll need to make the play dough:
3 C flour
1 1/2 C salt
3 C water
3 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 C vegetable oil (Any oil that you have on hand will do. I actually used corn oil, since I’ve had it in my pantry for a while and haven’t found another chance to use it up.)
Food coloring
Optional: Flavoring extracts for scent (coconut, peppermint, almond, anise)

• Whisk all the ingredients except the food coloring together in a medium sauce pan until smooth.  (If you choose to make several different colors of play dough, you’ll need to separate it out into different pans at this point.)  Add the coloring until desired color and intensity is reached.
• Cook over medium-low heat until dough becomes a soft dough consistency. You will need to stir this frequently until it begins to thicken and then constantly once it does begin to thicken.  This does take a while and gets tough to stir.
• Place the dough onto a heavily floured counter and knead in as much additional flour to reach a desired consistency that is not too sticky, about 1 cup.
• Store the finished dough in an airtight bag or container.