Who doesn’t love play dough?
It’s the epitome of learning through play! It feels wonderful in your hands; it awakens your creativity, and allows everyone in the family to experience it at their own level.
Is there a better medium for whole-family Core Phase fun?
Here’s my favorite play dough recipe:
PLAY DOUGH*
Ingredients
- 1 c. flour
- 2 t. cream of tartar
- 1 T. oil
- 7/8 c. water with a few drops of food coloring
- ½ c. salt
Directions
- Combine all ingredients and stir over medium heat until mixture forms ball and leaves sides of pan. Note: I find that a cast iron pan works really well for this, but whatever you have will work!
- Pour onto waxed paper and knead until smooth.
- Keep in Ziploc bag.
This Play Dough takes just minutes to make, has a super consistency and kids love working with it.
You can even add essential oils – like, “Peppermint” for green, “Orange” for orange, “Cinnamon” for red, etc. It adds to the sensory joy!
*Thanks to my friend Lis Barker who used to run the Preschool at Southern Utah University for this great recipe!
PLASTIC PLAY DOUGH**
This dough will dry to a hard, plastic-like consistency. You can make beads, animals, paperweights, or any other treasure that you want to last.
Ingredients
- ¼ c white glue
- ¼ c water
- 10 drops food coloring of your choice
- ¼ c flour
- 1 c cornstarch
Directions
- Cover the work area with waxed paper or a plastic tablecloth.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the glue, water, and food coloring.
- Mix the flour and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Then add to the wet mixture and mix until a stiff dough forms. (If you live in a humid climate, you may need to use less cornstarch.)
- Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for 1 minute.
- Mold the dough into shapes. If the dough becomes too dry, wet your hands. When you are finished with your creation, let it finish air-drying until thoroughly dry and hard. Drying time varies according to the size and thickness of the object.
**Plastic Play Dough recipe by Sherry Timberman, from the 1/06 Friend magazine
Thanks for these recipes. I have been looking for a way to make my own play dough for about a month now. Nothing I’ve tried works that well. Can’t wait to try this.
It works best with a thick cast-iron pan or heavy steel pan, like a pressure cooker or something like that, so that it heats evenly and cleans up simply. It happens really fast once you start stirring, so it can be lumpy if you’re not careful. But those lumps completely disappear with a moment’s kneading. As long as you 1) don’t burn it and 2) cook it to thickened consistency, you really can’t go wrong! email me if you have any questions (you can use the contact form on the top navigation tabs).
xoxo rd
Ok so I took the plunge and made some yellow. I can honestly say this is the easiest and fastest play dough I have ever made and it wasn’t all lumpy and nasty. Can’t wait to make more.
Kimberly
Thank you for recipe. I can’t wait to try it!
I tried the play dough recipe and my daughter loves it– so we have shared the recipe with other friends and they love it! Thank you! We have done every color imaginable– we love it.