Playdough. Something every toddler and every pre-schooler adores!

But when you have a 5-year old that will start to look after his toys and art supplies, and a toddler who will destroy all toys and art supplies including hers and her brother’s, having shared playdough is not a good idea.

So I asked my daughter’s nursery teacher for her recipe, as every day they have a huge supply of fab play dough laid out on the tables in the classroom for the kids to dig into. She was happy to oblige! And it turns out that besides homemade, it is also super easy, non-toxic, no-cook play dough and you don’t need cream of tartar either! Love it ...

Ingredients:

4 cups plain flour
1 cup salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1.5 cups boiling water
food colouring

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the boiling water and the oil. Mix altogether until there are no lumps.
Once it has cooled down, split the dough into as many parts as colours you’d like to have and put a couple of food colouring into each dough ball. Knead until the colour is uniform. Add more food colouring if a more intense colour is desired.
For longer lasting play dough, keep in individual zip-lock bags in the fridge.

If you feel a little adventurous or creative, add other ingredients at the end to jazz it up further by choosing one of the following:

1 tablespoon of the choice of essential oil (lavender works nicely for its calming effects)
4 tbsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp glitter
½ cup cocoa powder (use with non-coloured dough)
2 tbsp vanilla extract or essence, or any other fruit’s (lemon, apple, strawberry, banana, etc)

The possibilities for sensory and pretend play with such a simple resource are endless!

I shall be trying this in the next couple of days and revert with the results!!

Marissa xx

Image: Modern Parents Messy Kids