Earlier this month I was looking for some new activity to keep my daughter busy with. Even though she is not even two years old I thought she might already enjoy molding clay. When I started looking for options in a toy store, all they had to offer was not suitable for children under age of three. Sure thing, my child still wants to taste anything she gets her hands on, so I would rather have her playing with something safe (and edible). So there it was, our perfect way out - homemade play dough! Luckily, mister Google has lots of links to tell me how to make it. After surfing the net for a while and getting tips and advises from different sources, I have put together the best recipe for homemade play dough.
The recipe itself is rather simple. All you need is a cup of flour, 1/2 cup of warm water, 1/4 cup of salt, 1 tbsp of oil and, of course, food coloring. Mix flour with salt in one bowl and warm water with the coloring in another (for each color I used several drops of gel food coloring, it makes colors more vibrant). Now pour colored water into the bowl with salty flour, add oil and mix well. You can add more flour to make it less sticky or, on contrary, add a bit more water to soften your dough.
The type of flour you choose for your mixture might have a rather interesting effect on the molding experience. For example, the only flour I had on my shelf was bread flour with various kinds of seeds added. At first I was quite hesitant to use it, but then I decided to give it a try and the end result turned out great! Seeds made the texture more complex and, at the same time, fun to play with.
When making this dough at first I was sure that this is a one-time use product, but it may serve you many times more if you keep it in an air-tight box. At least my kid have already used it several times during this month. I still have to look into the ways of baking the molded item or any other way to make the end product more lasting - it would make a great present for Father's day, don't you think? ;)
Enjoy playing with this dough and I would love to hear your feedback!
