Art with Layla

I've tried many many many playdough recipes and I have been making it for the past 6 years since it's so fun to make it yourself! Sometimes it turns out too dry and sometimes like slime. My daughter is almost 4 and she loves to help make it and of course play with it. Some recommendations I have is make sure you do the food coloring after it has cooled off for recipe #2. The more food coloring you put in the darker the color. The food coloring can get very messy so make sure you have paper towels, wash cloths or put a mat down on your surface. I'm still trying to decide if I like the liquid or gel coloring better. This keeps for a long time as long as you keep it in an air tight container.

Recipe #1

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 cup water
2 tsp cream of tarter
1/3 cup salt
1 TBS vegetable oil
gel food coloring

In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup of flour, 2 teaspoons of cream of tarter, and 1/3 cup of salt (the salt keeps it from sticking and also helps preserve it).

Next, add 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Turn your burner on medium/low and stir. It will be a little lumpy and that’s fine.

Before it starts getting thick (this is going to happen fast, so be ready) you want to add whatever color food coloring you want. If it gets to thick before you add it, it’s hard to get an even color. Add the color and stir! (You will have to make batches for each color if you do it this way)

Keep stirring, it is going to start thickening up. This could take anywhere from 30 seconds-2 minutes depending on how hot your pan/stove is.

Now you can see it’s getting thicker, keep stirring, and keep scraping the bottom of the pot.

Once you notice the dough isn’t wet anymore, take it out of the pot.

The whole process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. it goes really fast, and even faster when you make additional batches because the pot/stove is already warm.

Put the dough on some wax paper or a silicone mat and allow to cool (30 minutes or so). Then take the ball in your hands and knead for a few seconds (like 30 seconds). Store in a zip-lock bag. It shouldn’t dry out, but if you notice it getting a bit dry you can add a few drops of water and knead that into the dough.

resource:

https://domesticsuperhero.com/best-homemade-playdough-recipe/

Recipe #2

Ingredients

2 Cups of Flour
2 Tbsp of Oil (any oil will do, coconut oil, vegetable oil, even olive oil)
1/2 Cup of Salt
2 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
1 1/2 Cup Boiling Water
Food Coloring

Pour 2 cups of flour into a bowl.

Add 1/2 cup of salt.

Mix in 2 Tbsp Cream of Tartar. (You can find this in the spice section of just about any grocery store.)

In a separate bowl add 2 Tbsp of oil. For this recipe I used vegetable oil, but you can use any oil, and as long as it’s a kitchen oil, your playdough will be non-toxic and safe if a little one takes a tiny taste. The sodium level is very high, so don't let your kid eat it as a snack although our dog loves to eat it off the floor which helps clean up (LOL).

Pour in the boiling water to the oil bowl. Be VERY careful because this makes the dough HOT!

Mix all the ingredients together until they form the dough. It may seem dry at first but will become dough.

After it’s cooled, to make several different colors of playdough, separate the dough into equal parts and roll it up into balls.

Now, punch out the middle of the ball to leave a little bowl for you to pour your gel food dye into.

Drip your gel dye into the bowls. This is a great time to mix dye colors if you want to make another color.

Knead the dough until the dye is thoroughly mixed. This is VERY messy! If you don’t want to stain your hands, use gloves, and make sure to put something down so you don’t stain your counter.

resource:

https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/206/play-dough

This is great for math and counting. My daughter made sure we had enough balls made per color. You can also turn this into a color mixing activity by mixing primary colors.

Red + Yellow = Orange

Red + Blue = Purple

Yellow + Blue = Green