Welcome to Rose’s and my second “Special Afternoon Activity” post. Today we decided that it was time for Rose to try out some play dough. During nap time I researched play dough recipes and concluded that the recipe listed below is by far the one most used and liked by other online moms. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make play dough with your child.
Ingredients:
2 Cups Water
2 Cups Flour
4 Tsp. Cream of Tartar
2/3 Cups Salt
2 Tbs. Vegetable Oil
Activity:
Simply pour all the ingredients into one bowl. Let your
child (at least try to) pour some of them in themselves. Help your child mix
the ingredients together. It may be hard for them since it’s a pretty thick
mixture, but that’s okay let them try anyways.
Divide the mixture into four (or more) bowls and add food
coloring. I prefer to use Sargent Art’s
WaterColor Magic (available on Amazon for $15) because it is washable. Once
again, allow your child to be part of the process and let them mix the color
in.
After everything is nice and mixed together. Heat a
non-stick pan to medium heat. Make sure it is out of child’s reach. Safety
first! Pour one of your color mixtures into the pan and stir continuously, see Picture 1. (ProTip: Start with the lightest color and move the darkest; for
example begin with yellow, then red, then blue, and finally purple.) Stir the
mixture until it begins to clump up on you, see Picture 2. It will be sticky, but that’s okay. At this point,
remove the glob of stickiness onto waxed paper or your countertop. Let it cool
for a while (I went ahead and “cooked” the other 3 colors) and then knead the
dough until it is no longer sticky.
Just like that your play dough is now ready to be played
with! (See Picture 3).
Rose’s Experience:
Rose really wanted nothing to do with the play dough after
it was made. She would touch it and hold it if I handed it to her, but she
would not squeeze or squish it. Oh well. I did some quick thinking and grabbed
some old-fashioned clothes pins and some chipboard pieces from my craft room
and we had plenty of fun poking them into the play dough and taking them out.
Conclusion:
Pros:
- Great practice at mixing ingredients.
- Color learning opportunity.
- Multiple sensory opportunities. Rose played with the flour, salt, play dough mixture, and then finally the playdough itself.
- Making the play dough takes 15-30 minutes (depending on how much time you and your child take to talk about each ingredient and mix them together). And playing with the play dough takes up another 15-30 minutes.
- Ingredients are basic household staples (except maybe the Cream of Tartar, but ProTip: Google “Non-cook play dough recipes” for a recipe that uses all of the above except cream of tartar).
Cons:
- Rose did not like waiting while I cooked the play dough. She didn’t understand why she was a part of all the other steps except that one.
- Rose did not understand and/or like the concept of play dough and became bored with sticking things into it after 15 minutes or so.
Overall Rating: 4 Stars
I debated giving this activity 5 stars, mostly because you
and your child might have way more success than Rose and I did. Our personal
experience was pretty positive except when I had to cook the dough and Rose all
of the sudden wasn’t part of the process anymore. Rose really enjoyed the
making process, but wasn’t too into playing with the end result. We will
continue to get it out occasionally and hopefully she will learn to love
playing with it.
Other Variations:
- Consider making a Non-Cook version of this recipe. That way your child can be part of the process the entire way through.
- With younger children (like Rose’s age, around 1 year), consider making only one or two colors. Rose really didn’t care that there were four colors.
- If using chip-board cut outs, older children can practice sorting. Have them group and stick the different objects into different mounds of play dough (as seen in the last picture above).
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