Back to basics. How to make Play Doh.

If you have children's grandchildren, nieces, nephews... friends with kids... homemade play doh is a must.  A little bucket with some cookie cutters and some play doh is a beautiful and very inexpensive gift.  I always save any little buckets with lids ie the honey bucket... because they are perfect.  Recently we did play doh for the boys and added dinosaurs and rocks.  Great success!   For the girls we have added glitter.   It can be really personalised!   

Over to my Chloe, my helper...  

 Hello Lovely Ladies

Firstly, thankyou to everyone for all the messages you have left for Mum after the sudden loss of Andy. What a blessing to be lifted up by so much prayer and support. 

This morning I was entertaining my boys with a fresh batch of playdough and I thought why not write it up for anyone that doesn’t realise how easy it is to make or for those who need a reminder and a good recipe.

Here in Australia the most well known brand is Play-Doh, which sells for around $3 per 100 grams. It is made in China and there is no ingredients list, it simply says non-toxic and not suitable for children under 2. 

Both my boys have played with it from around 12 months old, so something “taste safe” was important to me, not to mention the convenience of something that can be whipped up at a moments notice for mere cents per batch. 

So I let the boys pick which colour they would like and then I gather my supplies. Plain flour, table salt, cream of tartar, coconut oil and food colouring (and essential oil if you like). 

To a saucepan add 2 cups of plain flour, 3/4 cup salt, 4 teaspoons cream of tartar, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 2 cups of water and your add ins - food colouring, essential oil for a lovely scent and glitter for a bit of fun. If you would prefer a few different colours from the one batch then prepare it uncoloured and then divide the cooked dough amongst some snap lock bags each with a few drops of the colouring you want. You can mix them inside the bags to save your hands from being coloured. 

Give it all a mix then heat it over a medium heat while stirring continuously. It starts out very wet. If you have not made it before you will wonder how this soupy mix could possibly result in anything but have faith! After just a few minutes of mixing over the heat it will start to come together. Once it has formed a big ball of dough that you really can’t stir around anymore then remove it from the saucepan and let it cool on the counter top (don’t forget to soak your saucepan straight away to help with cleanup later). 

Even now it will look like a bit of a mess but as soon as it’s cool enough to handle knead it up and it suddenly becomes a smooth and soft and lovely playdough!  If you keep this in an airtight container it will last for months! 

Knowing that I make this regularly, I keep an eye out for supplies like cream of tartar and big bags of salt when it’s on special. It means I can make up a batch for almost nothing. This recipe makes around 1 kilo of dough and based on average prices that’s $30 worth! To buy something “taste safe” with an actual ingredients list can be around $5 per 100 grams…. So that would make my batch worth over $50!!! This is crazy to me but it is true. 

We use playdough almost everyday. Sometimes I pit it out with toy diggers, sometimes with my cookie cutters and rollers from the kitchen and sometimes we roll it out flat and use it as a play base for a scene of dinosaurs or farmyard. 

The boys will sit up at the table and play for ages which allows me time to prepare something in the kitchen for the day. 

I remember as kids my sister and I used to make elaborate cookies to serve with invisible tea. We would serve everyone up a selection and to our horror our grandfather would often take a bite and swallow some. We had grave concerns for him as he clearly didn’t understand that these were just for pretend (bless him he played along so well with us knowing that Nana had made it from safe pantry staples) but he always survived and it’s become a fond memory for us both now. 

Play is such an important part of childhood, for the development of imagination, concentration and hand strength etc plus a child playing happily allows a little time for us to get something done or even fix ourselves a cup of tea… so whip up a batch ladies and hopefully everyone involved enjoys it. 

x Chloe

Thanks again to Chloe.   I hope this basic is a helper and money saver for you.xxx