Let’s make play dough at home! It’s cheap, easy and much better than shop bought. Play dough is great for children to develop their fine motor skills, lots of squishing, squeezing, rolling and pinching! It’s also good for developing language – talk about the shapes you are making, how the play dough feels, name the cutter shapes you might be using. Chat while you play.
Let’s make play dough recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups of water
2 cups of plain flour
1 cup of salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp of cooking oil (NOT olive
oil or nut oil)
food colouring (optional)
Instructions:
1.Place all ingredients in a large microwaveable bowl.
2.Heat in the microwave on full power in 50-second bursts,
stirring in between, until all the ingredients are almost
combined.
3.When almost combined, reduce the heat time to 30 seconds
between stirring.
4.When combined, tip onto a floured surface and knead until
smooth (It will be hot at first, so be careful!)
5.Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months
Here’s a downloadable version of the recipe for you to print and keep and share
If you’ve never made play dough before here’s a few photos to show the different stages –
Just a few notes
Choose your food colouring wisely – some colours just aren’t as nice once mixed in to the dough
Add a scent if you like
Olive oil will make the dough sticky and unusable – save your money and use a cheap vegetable oil
Use cheap flour
If you prefer you can cook the dough in a large pan over a low heat, stirring all the time.
There are lots of ideas for making play dough mats on the web. Here’s a link to one site.
