Making Playdough!

Today we had some lesson plans on learning about time and crafting with clocks, but I decided to push that off to this afternoon, so that we could get in the kitchen and create something to take outdoors with us! My 3 year and old was an assistant today and he was eager to mix and play.  First, we gathered the ingredients needed (List at the bottom of page) and then I got out a mixing bowl. I know you can make it all over the stove, but I wanted my son to be able to help and I don't let him near the hot stuff in the kitchen. I had him toss it all in the bowl and mix it up and then I had the 2 cups of water in a large jar, where I let him squeeze the food coloring in and stir it up apart from the rest of the mixture, so he could see the color appear in the water first. We then mixed it all together into 1 bowl and got it prepped for the stove.

Once on the stove, mommy took over and for a second, I was unsure of what I was supposed to do other than stir it up (nothing). I used a recipe from a homework assignment my preschooler brought home and added some vanilla for scent. I tried looking for an internet recipe, but the first one I tried was missing the amounts of water I would need and then another one I had found didn't list some of the ingredients that I did have and added some that I didn't have in house, so I went with what I had!

After about 3 minutes, I was left with this incredibly shiny and sticky ball and I was so worried that I wasn't doing it right, but I kept on mixing for about 2 more minutes and it started to smooth out!!

Finally, we were successful!!! I used old store containers to hold the colored balls of dough and the kids have been having a blast ever since!! From start to finish it took us about 10 minutes and that's WASHING up afterwards too!!! I'm so happy to find something that my little ones love and can help with too!! I'm planning on putting small amounts into smaller containers to give to my daughters class for Easter!

What you will need:
2 cups of water
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
Food Coloring
1 TBSP of cooking oil
1 TBSP of Cream of Tartar

Mix everything together over medium-high heat and continue mixing and stirring for about 5-6 minutes. You will see the dough thicken and eventually begin to smooth over. Once you remove from stove, let it cool for 2 minutes and store in an airtight container!

I'm linking up here: