The Best Homemade Play doh recipe

 


My whole family came down sick this week , except me so far. I This sickness means 2 of my 3 kids cannot go to school they cannot be around anyone it  because it is that contagious.
They are going on a 5 day weekend as of today. So they of course are bored out of their minds and about to mutiny with each other. I needed to come up with a new thing for them to do quick. As we go through play doh like nothing else. Mostly it ends up left out, dried  and smooshed into my carpet or I find dried chunks of it in other places around the house. ( I found my daughter putting chunks of it into the weight bench )
I have seen many play doh recipes, and  I have tried a few with  yucky results (usually crumbly and falls apart) the "real"play doh can get expensive and the Dollar Store stuff, crumbles and is rubbery and dries out when playing with it, but this recipe by far is the best. The kids helped me make it and the  are quite good about making sure it gets put away now.
I am actually thinking about making another batch and giving it to our guests this Thanksgiving. I think it would be a great conversation starter, a nice way to relax while waiting for food or other guests, and  it may bring out the kid in the adults.

Super soft  play doh recipe:
 2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 cups of water
2 tbs of vegtable oil
1 tsp of cream of tartar
food coloring

Grab a pot and place all the ingredients into the pan except food coloring. Cook on low heat stirring constantly until the mix turns into a ball and pulls from the side of the pan to the center, if it is sticky keep cooking on low. You can pull a small piece from the top and mush it in your fingers  for a few seconds and if it resembles play doh texture its time to take it off the stove.

Dump it out on a silicone mat or large cutting board/ clean surface. Knead the large batch of dough until smooth, or in my case I divided it  into 8 same size balls,  and let the kids knead each one until its smooth. 
Take each ball once kneaded and smooth and flatten a little bit. Make a small thumb size indentation in the middle (like you do when you want a pool of gravy in your mashed taters ) and place 5 drops of desired food coloring into the indentation, then fold over and fold over again and start to knead until all the color is even throughout the ball of dough. I made the colors of the rainbow, and found that 5 drops give it a very vibrant shade. You may want to wear gloves of some sort because your hands can get very colorful. But if you don't wear gloves the color comes off after a few hand washings.

Once you have all your pretty, bright colored play doh, separate them into plastic baggies. I would have posted a pic, but my good camera was not working, and the small camera is missing. That is the Beta part of my brain , forgetting where I put stuff.