Squishy Fun for Less!

I’ve caught my son sneaking little bites of play-dough every now and then and it got me wondering ‘what the heck is in that anyway?’   The container says ‘non-toxic’, but if you’re a conspiracy theorist mom like me, you’re not entirely convinced it’s safe.

Plus, if you haven’t noticed, name brand playdough isn’t cheap… and I was tired of buying container after container every time ours dried up. 

Here’s a cheap and easy recipe along with a ’how-to video’ for safe Homemade Playdough that costs only about $1 to make! 

Now if I could just find a way to keep my son from mixing all those pretty colors into one big ‘poo-colored’ ball. 

Here is the ingredient list… or if you have the Living Cookbook software, you can download the free .fdx recipe file and import it:

Living Cookbook .fdx Recipe File:
Homemade Playdough (To Download: Right mouse click on the recipe and select ’save file as’ – Save to your computer and then you can import it into your Living Cookbook program.

Homemade Play-Dough

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:
2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
2 Tbs Cream of Tartar

Wet Ingredients:
2 Tbs Canola Oil
2 cup Water

Add Last Ingredients:
40 drops Food Coloring (10 drops of each color)

Procedure

1. Combine all ingredients (except food coloring) into a non-stick sauce pan and mix well.
2. Heat on Medium until mixture thickens and begins to stick to sides of pan.  Be sure to continuously stir the mixture as it cooks.
3. Continue stirring until it is no longer sticky and forms a firm ball in the center of the pan. (approximately 2-3 minute from start to finish)
4. Remove mixture from heat and let cool until it is just warm to the touch.
5. Knead and divide into 4 balls.  Push your finger into the center of the ball to make a well for the food coloring.
6. Add 10 drops of food coloring to each ball  in order to make the four colors (red, yellow, green, blue).
7. Knead well and let cool before giving to child to play.
8. Store in a Ziplock bag for up to 2 weeks or more (preferably in the refrigerator).

Servings
Yield: 4 (1 Cup) Balls

Preparation Time: 2 minutes
Cooking Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Tips
If mixture is too dry, add a little oil and/or water… OR, if mixture is too wet, add a little flour – until the consistency is ‘playdough-like’

To preserve you or your child’s creations, you can bake it for 1/2 to 1 hour at 300 degrees until thoroughly dry.  If you have a dehydrator, you can also follow the manufacturers instructions to dry your pieces.

Feel free to send me any questions or comments you may have!