What’s to not love about playdough? The children love enjoying with it, and we mothers love the hands-on exploration and engagement it supplies. As a mother and former elementary instructor, pulling out the playdough has typically been a surefire option to knock out boredom with my youngsters or college students, relax an emotional baby, or hold little ones busy once I have to get a fast process finished.
My son (Fitz, 5 years outdated) and I attempted making our personal playdough right now, and we need to share the recipe and ideas with you! I’m not one to be that nice within the kitchen, so I promise you, if I could make an amazing batch of selfmade playdough, you’ll be able to too!
Why Make Your Personal Playdough?
There are a number of advantages that we discovered to creating our personal playdough! I didn’t consider some till we made it ourselves, and we’re so glad we did.
- If saved correctly, it might probably last more than store-bought playdough. Put it in a Ziplock bag positioned in an hermetic plastic container.
- It’s cheaper than shopping for store-bought playdough, particularly in case your youngsters are actually into it and use it typically. All you want are easy elements, and also you in all probability have them available already!
- It smells so significantly better! I strongly dislike the scent of store-bought playdough, and the selfmade variety smells contemporary and doughy.
- You may as well add your individual scents to make the odor even higher. Simply add your most well-liked scented extract to your subsequent playdough batch!
- Children love mixing and making their very own enjoyable colours. You may get totally different shades apart from what’s bought on the retailer.
- It’s actually enjoyable to make collectively. Fitz cherished being a part of the method, and he was such an excellent helper.
- Anytime your youngsters are cooking within the kitchen with you, you’ll be able to name it a science lesson! We talked about how the totally different elements work collectively to serve a objective for the dough. Enjoyable + studying is a win-win, in my view!
No-Bake Home made Playdough Recipe
We used this recipe that makes use of boiling water as an alternative of baking. We favored it as a result of it made small batches so we may shortly and simply make a number of totally different colours.
Components
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup salt
- We selected a tremendous salt in order that it combined in higher. The salt is important to maintain your playdough more energizing for longer.
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- This helps to make your dough good and stretchy. If you happen to discover your dough is simply too robust, you’ll be able to add some extra cream of tartar to make it extra malleable.
- ½ cup boiling water
- ½ tbsp vegetable oil
- Meals dye: Gel will make your colours brighter, and the common liquid can be extra pastel.
- (Elective) extract: We cherished making our playdough odor like fruit! Strawberry and lemon extract is straightforward to search out and smells so good. You possibly can additionally use almond, vanilla, or cinnamon or add drops of important oils if in case you have them.
The Steps
First, whisk the dry elements (flour, salt, and cream of tartar) collectively in a plastic bowl. Then, push them to the sting of the bowl to make a effectively within the middle of the bowl.
Then add the moist elements (boiling water and vegetable oil) into the effectively.
This was additionally after we added the meals coloring and scented extract. At the moment we used strawberry for our purple and lemon for our yellow playdough. (We stored the blue with no scent so we may see what it naturally smelled like . . . and it was so good too!) After including the moist elements, use a spatula to combine till the dough begins forming.
Then we used our palms to additional knead the dough collectively. It would be best to ensure all the colour will get combined in evenly too. Having disposable gloves available was useful as a result of the dough can be scorching as a result of boiling water. It additionally retains your palms from getting coloured by the dye because it mixes in. Fitz cherished this half!
That’s it! You’ve gotten your selfmade playdough. You may at all times alter any elements if mandatory:
- If it’s too sticky, you’ll be able to add some flour.
- Including extra boiling water will assist if it’s too dry.
- If you happen to want it to be stretchier, add a splash extra of the cream of tartar.
Enjoying together with your selfmade dough.
You don’t should have fancy or costly gear to have enjoyable together with your selfmade playdough! These are our favourite (and easy!) methods to play:
- Get out cookie cutters and make shapes that go together with the season.
- Use forks and spoons to make shapes, mildew the dough, and add texture.
- Different kitchen instruments, like ice cream scoopers, tongs, and spatulas, permit for scooping, spreading, and different exploration!
Lastly, don’t overlook to offer a chosen playdough play space to maintain issues contained and straightforward to choose up. A cookie sheet works for a fast and small workspace. We additionally typically use a foam board that we tuck away and may simply pull out to reuse. Or, unfold out a splat mat on the bottom for a bigger house you could simply wash after play!
Our ultimate score: 10/10! We cherished making our personal playdough, and Fitz already has concepts on what colours and smells he needs to attempt subsequent. What do you suppose — would you make your individual selfmade playdough? We’d like to know in case you attempt it!
