Play dough

Home made play dough is awesome.. a bit time consuming.. and if you don’t have a preservative.. doesn’t last that long.. BUT I think it’s a lot better than all the chemical stuff that’s in the commercial stuff.

You will need:

8 Cups of Flour (all purpose)
8 Cups of Warm water
4 Cups of table salt
1 Cup of Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup of Cream of Tartar
Soap Dyes.
Thick Spoon
Large pot
Stove
Measuring cup
A kid who loves play dough
Wax paper or parchment paper. and Saran Wrap
Wisk
Glitter or Mica
Zip lock bags or containers with lids for storage.

Everything minus the dyes can be found in your house or at the local grocery store. My dyes (larger bottles) were primarily bought from Nature's Garden Candle, the others were bought at Michaels Arts and Crafts Store.

You can cut this recipe down. I did this size to show the range of colors that we will make. Use the table below to figure out which amount you want to use. (Note: the amount in the pot is what you will get.. it does not boil down or anything.)

Flour	8 Cups	4 Cups	2 Cups	1 Cup	1/2 Cup
Water	8 Cups	4 Cups	2 Cups	1 Cup	1/2 Cup
Salt	4 Cups	2 Cups	1 Cup	1/2 Cup	1/4 Cup
Oil	1 Cup	1/2 Cup	1/4 Cup	1/8 Cup	1/16 Cup
Tartar	1/4 Cup	1/8 Cup	1/16 Cup	1/32 Cup	1/64 Cup

1/8th cup = 2 tablespoons
1/16th cup = 1 tablespoon
1/32th cup = 1 1/2 teaspoons
1/64th cup = 3/4ths teaspoon

Measure out your 8 cups of flour and, put it in the pot. You can add all the dry ingredients first then the water and oil. Or do like I did and, go in this order.

Add the 8 cups of water.

Using your Wisk and child.. mix! try to get all the flour clumps out. This becomes easier as you add the other ingredients.

Add your 4 cups of Salt. Pour over your wax paper, so there’s easy clean up

Add 1/4th cup of Cream of Tartar

Add 1 cup of Oil

mix some more. It will be the consistency of pancake batter. don’t worry about the oil right now. it will mix in more with cooking.

Turn the fire (in my case heat.. I have a electric stove) on medium You will have to continue mixing the entire time, so you do not scorch the bottom. it will get thicker and thicker. This is what you want to happen. Stop using the Wisk once you feel the mixture getting thicker. Use the thick spoon from now on. You will need the thicker spoon because when I say this gets thick, I mean it gets THICK!! You’d probably break a weaker spoon.. and we don’t want that.

Here are the lumps you will start to get. just remember to keep mixing and, make sure you’re scraping the bottom and sides.

Soon it will be the consistency of Hot Cereal..

Then Mashed potatoes.

Once it starts to look dry and, is really hard to move around, test it with your fingers. Does it stick? If so, it still needs some time. If not, it’s done. Take off the heat, give it a mix a few more times, slowly.

Allow it to cool for a few minutes, then dump it out onto your wax or parchment paper. (note: Wax paper will get “soggy” and need to be peeled off. I have not tested parchment paper..)
Allow the mixture to cool some more.. Use this time to clean up.

Once it’s cool to the touch, take off a chunk and start to kneed it. till its smooth. If you find any lumps that will not mix in, just take them out. They won’t be missed.

On the left you have an un-kneaded chunk and, a kneaded one. It’s smoother.. the consistency of store bought dough.

To color, poke a hole in the center of the dough.

Drop your color inside. Start small and add more to achieve the color you desire. I have also added glitter

Fold over the edges and work slowly to kneed the color in. You don’t need gloves for this because all of the dyes come off rather easy. You can also wash and dry your hands in between every few balls of dough. Some of the dough will come off and, dry on your hands anyway. leaving this rough skinned feel.