Making play dough is almost as fun as playing and sculpting with play dough! This simple cooked play dough recipe is a great way to encourage kids to have fun in the kitchen. The resulting dough is smooth, not grainy, and you can make it using inexpensive ingredients found in your cupboard. And this recipe cooks up fast! My lovely friend and model Sofia and I made the dough in about 15 minutes, start to finish. She had so much fun, and I did too!
Materials:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1½ tablespoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups water
Food coloring
Soup pot
Wooden spoon
Step 1: Pour the ingredients one by one into a large soup pot.
Step 2: Mix them together with the wooden spoon, over medium heat, on the stove. Stir the ingredients constantly. Definitely encourage children to mix and have fun, but stay close while they are at the stove.
Step 3: The play dough will begin to form while you stir, and as it thickens up, just keep going. As soon as the majority of the mixture begins to clump to the spoon and peel away from the sides of the pot, give it one last stir, then remove it from the heat.
Step 4: Turn the dough onto a floured work surface, and let it cool for at least 3 minutes. Make sure the dough isn’t hot in the center, and then begin to work it. Knead the dough over and over, for at least 2 minutes. Add a few drops of food coloring, and knead the color in.
Step 5: Have fun making sculptures, shapes, and playing with any fun kitchen tools you have around. Store the play dough in a zip-lock bag, and you can use it for the rest of the week.
ADVERTISEMENT
