Making Your Own Playdough Is Fun and Easy!
Sculpting with Play-Doh is always a favorite activity for kids, and it can be even more fun to make your own quick and easy Play-Doh style modeling clay (AKA "playdough"), especially on a rainy day. You probably have all of the ingredients sitting in your pantry right now!
You can make pretty much any color you like by adding food coloring. If you want multiple colors, it's best to make more than one batch, as you add the food coloring during the mixing stage to make sure the color is distributed evenly.
To make your own dough, get the following ingredients together:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup salt
- 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Food coloring
Mix together the dry ingredients in a large saucepan (non-stick works best). Then add water, oil, and food coloring of your choice.
Cook over medium heat until the dough pulls away from the pan. Remove playdough from pan, and place on a floured cutting board. Leave it alone until it's cool enough to handle, then knead it for a few minutes until it's smooth and elastic. That's it! It helps to let the dough sit for a fifteen minutes or so before using.
This recipe makes quite a bit of dough—equivalent to two large cans of Play-Doh. Store any leftover dough in a sealed container or zip-lock bag.
