The Perfect Play Dough?

We are gearing up for yet another birthday party for one of Mia's little friends, so that meant making a fresh batch of play dough. It really makes an awesome, inexpensive gift, in my opinion. (All I know is that nobody has complained yet, but that would bad form, of course.) I really do believe that homemade stuff is perfect for children's birthday gifts and not just because I am cheap resourceful! This will keep her interest for several weeks of creative play. Plus, what mom wouldn't be happy for her child to receive homemade gifts in place of yet another Barbie doll?

When I asked Mia what kind of play dough she wanted to make, she couldn't decide between Kool-Aid play dough and glitter play dough, so we decided to combine the two. This was actually something that I had wanted to try for awhile, but hadn't had the opportunity. Our most recent batch of play dough is holding strong, you see, and we made it two months ago. To make our "perfect play dough" or  "sensory overload play dough," as I am calling it in my mind, we used the Kool-Aid play dough recipe and then added in the glitter at the end. I LOVE any homemade play dough, but this one smells delicious, has vibrant color, and it has a little something extra in the form of sparkle, so who could ask for more? It's quite possibly the perfect play dough!

To make the gift of play dough complete, I like to include inexpensive plastic cookie cutters. (After Easter, I stock piled a bunch of these that I picked up on clearance at Target. Thirty cents for a 4-pack was a steal!) Also, here is where I posted directions for how I make my recipe "label" to attach to the jar, in case you are wondering. Mia's friend, the birthday girl, will also be receiving a few other homemade goodies to round out her gift bag including: a wave bottle, a seek 'n' find bottle, some dyed pasta beads for making bracelets and necklaces (materials for that included), some bunny shaped scribble cookies plus a construction paper pad, and a batch of homemade bubble solution complete with two wands made from pipe cleaners. (This bubble recipe is a new one I have tried this year and have not blogged about since I want to try a couple more recipes before doing a post. If you are looking for a recipe now, feel free to check out the 3 I tried last year.)

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup salt                           
• 1 Cup flour                        
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar        
• 1 pkg. Kool-Aid*                  
• 1 Tbs. cooking oil               
• 1 Cup water               *I use generic drink mix packets.*
• glitter

Directions:

1. In a pan, mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Kids can help with this. (We used a Kroger Tropical Punch unsweetened drink mix packet for this particular batch.)
2. Cook on medium heat until a ball forms, stirring as needed.
3. Set aside to cool, and then knead the play dough. Kids can help with this. Tip: Wax paper or a cutting board or place mat will protect your work surface from stains.
4. To add glitter, I find it is easiest to make a well in the play dough, pour in small amount of glitter, cover it over with the dough and then knead until it is distributed throughout the dough. Repeat as needed until you have as much glitter as desired. Tip: Glitter play dough is not all that messy. The glitter tends to stay in the play dough quite well and not end up everywhere, as you might expect it to. So, don't be afraid to add some sparkle to your play dough! If you are concerned about the mess, just have kids play with it on a vinyl place mat, some wax paper, a cutting board, or my new favorite multi-purpose craft item: the liner from a cereal box - It's free and stuff doesn't stick to it. You can even re-use these.
5. Enjoy! Play dough will keep for several weeks in an airtight container. Tip: Cool Whip tubs, zippered baggies, and jars work well for this. My personal favorite are plastic peanut butter jars. Important Note about Homemade Play Dough: Although it is non-toxic, kids shouldn't eat it. It's very salty, so I'm not sure why they would want to, but it does happen. Tip: Personal experience has taught me to keep play dough away from pets as well. I can't tell you how many times our dog has eaten this and then gotten sick. It doesn't hurt her, of course, but it is a nuisance to have to clean up dog vomit while your kid is contentedly playing with his new batch of play dough.

Play Dough Ring Stacker/Counting Activity

{This is a look of intense concentration.}

Before spring break started, I picked up a couple of kids' craft books from the library, just in case. Although we did not do this over break, it still was a good one to try out. This simple activity was inspired by The Little Hands BIG FUN Craft Book by Judy Press.


Materials:

• play dough (see recipe)
• wooden skewer (you could also use a stir stick/thin straw)
• Cheerios (or other "O" cereal)

Directions:

1. Make a small mound of play dough on a table. Tip: If you want, you can do this on a place mat.
2. Insert the skewer, pointed side down. Tip: If you are out at a restaurant, grab a stir stick or thin straw if they have them. This would also work if you are concerned about the sharp end of the skewer.
3. Let your child stack the Cheerios onto the skewer. Older kids can use this as counting activity. Toddlers can just use it for motor skills practice. Be prepared for a few Cheerios to get broken while children are sliding them onto the skewer. Don't worry, though, you child knows what to do with these! Note: The play dough does end up with some crumbs in it. I just brushed them away before we put the play dough back in its designated peanut butter jar. If it really bothers you, be prepared to toss some play dough. This is yet another reason to have homemade play dough. It saves you money, so it's harder to feel bad about it out as needed.

Basic Homemade Play Dough

We make a lot of play dough at our house. It's great stuff and I very much prefer it to store-bought play dough. My Little Man really loves homemade play dough, and he will spend an hour or more at a stretch playing with it. He also likes to help out in the kitchen, so this is a good activity that we can do together. Since his big sissy is sick and had to stay home from school today, I decided we should make a couple of batches of basic play dough for gift giving. He enjoyed helping me pour the ingredients, and once the play dough was packaged up, he got out our most recent batch of Kool-Aid* Play Dough and continued with the quiet play. (The quiet part was pretty important since Mia had fallen asleep on the sofa, and after getting sick several times during the night, I thought that she really needed some uninterrupted sleep.) But, I'm getting off topic.

The point is that play dough is super easy and quick to make at home with a few basic kitchen ingredients. The only item you may not necessarily have on hand is cream of tartar, which you can find in the spice aisle of your local grocery store for under $5. I recently decided to see how far one canister of cream of tartar will go, so I have been making tally marks on it each time we make a batch of play dough. I have used a few different recipes, each of which calls for varying amounts of cream of tartar, so it is hard to say how many total batches you could for sure get. I am up to 5 batches so far and there is about 1/3 of the canister remaining. I think that is pretty reasonable. I've lost track of where I originally found this recipe, but it's a good basic one.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 Tbs. cream of tartar
• 1 cup water
• food coloring
• 1 Tbs. cooking oil

Directions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a pan. Kids can help pour or measure and pour, depending on their age and ability.
2. Mix the desired amount of food coloring in with a cup of water* and add to the pan along with the oil. Kids can also help with this step. (Note: Being hopeful that we will be having spring weather very soon, I used our bottles of left over snow paint for this, blue for the first batch, and green for the second. Then, I decided to add about 5 additional drops of food coloring per batch.)
3. Cook the mixture on medium heat until a ball forms. Spoon the play dough out onto a counter top to cool. Tip: Waxed paper helps keep your counter from getting sticky or stained, so you may want to tear off a piece and place it on the counter first.
4. Once the play dough has cooled, knead it until it is soft and pliable. *If you want, you can also choose to add the food coloring during this step instead of step 2 along with the water.* Both ways work, but the advantage of adding it along with the water is that it is less likely to stain your hands. The advantage of adding it later is that you can add just a small amount at first, and then add more until you get the color saturation you are looking for, which is a little harder to do when you are diluting it in water.
5. Play dough will keep for several weeks in an airtight container. Tip: My current favorite storage containers are left over peanut butter jars. Cool Whip tubs also work, or you can use zippered baggies.

 A Few Notes on Homemade Play Dough:

• Although play dough is non-toxic, you should watch kids to make sure they do not eat it. I don't think they would eat too much, however, as it is quite salty.
• Keep this play dough away from pets. Trust me, our dog has eaten enough of it for me to tell you that the salt content will always make them sick. While this isn't harmful in the long run, it's no fun to be cleaning up vomit.
• If you're worried about messes, you can have kids play with the play dough on wax paper, cutting boards, or vinyl place mats or tablecloths.
• You do not need to buy any special play dough tools. Kitchen forks, spoons, and butter knives are all fun to play with. Rolling pins and cookie cutters are a perennial favorite at our house. My kids also like those little tracers/stencils that they get as party favors. We also use kitchen toys like pastry cutter, pizza cutter, and a little muffin tin. They also enjoy making impressions with things like bottle caps and toys (You only have to worry about play dough getting caught in things like Hot Wheels tires, but it's not really a big deal. It eventually dries and falls out or can be picked out.) We even have a few sandbox toys that have made it in with our play dough toys. So, really just about any thing you or your kids can think of could potentially be a play dough tool.
• If you don't have cream of tartar, or you don't want to buy it, here is another recipe that we have used, which calls for powdered alum instead. (Again, you would find that in the spice aisle.)
• If you want your play dough to have a little extra something, try making glitter play dough.
• If you want play dough that smells fantastic or has has vibrant color without the addition of food coloring, try Kool-Aid* play dough.
• Homemade play dough makes a terrific gift! I just package it up in one of my old peanut butter jars, print off the recipe (all of which I have saved in Microsoft Word, so that I can get three per page), trim it down with my paper trimmer, and adhere it to the jar using clear Con-tact paper. I make sure that the recipe covers up that last bit of sticky label residue that never wants to come off without more elbow grease than I am willing to employ. Then, for a little something extra, I tie on some inexpensive plastic cookie cutters. I recently found packages four spring-shaped cookie cutters for $1 in the impulse buy section of Target, so I bought several of them and set them aside for gifts. In the past, I have found 6-packs of plastic cookie cutters at Dollar Tree, so I also check for them whenever I am there.

Kool-Aid* Play Dough

I recently posted one of my favorite play dough recipes, glitter play dough, but I have to say that this recipe for "Kool-Aid" play dough is my current favorite. It smells wonderful and you don't need to add any food coloring since the color comes from the drink mix. I am calling it "Kool-Aid Play Dough" for simplicity sake, but I actually use generic store-brand drink mix packets to make our play dough since they are less expensive. This play dough is very easy to make, and it lasts for several weeks if kept in an airtight container. 

Homemade play dough also makes a great gift, especially if you add a recipe card and some inexpensive plastic cookie cutters. My latest method of including the recipe is to print it off (I first typed it to fit 3 per page in portrait page setting of Microsoft Word), trim it down, and then adhere it to the peanut butter jar with clear Con-tact paper. This also helps cover up that last little bit of sticky backing from the jar label that is tough to remove. I just found a four-pack of spring cookie cutters for $1 in the impulse-buy section of Target, so I purchased three packages to set aside for gift-giving. I have also found cookie cutters in six-packs at Dollar Tree, although not on recent trips. It's just something to keep in mind for future reference. Once you have them on hand, you can whip up a gift in just a few minutes time.

{Here are just 3 of the possible options: Pink Lemonade, Orange, and Grape. Note: The Pink Lemonade is not nearly as vivid as the other colors. Black Cherry also makes somewhat dull-colored play dough.}

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup salt                           
• 1 Cup flour                        
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar        
• 1 pkg. Kool-Aid*                  
• 1 Tbs. cooking oil               
• 1 Cup water               *I use generic drink mix packets.*

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Kids can help with this.
2. Cook in a sauce pan on medium heat until a ball forms, stirring as needed.
3. Set aside to cool, and then knead the play dough. Kids can help with this. Tip: Wax paper or a cutting board or place mat will protect your work surface from stains.
4. Enjoy! Play dough will keep for several weeks in an airtight container. Tip: Cool Whip tubs, zippered baggies, and jars work well for this. My personal favorite are plastic peanut butter jars. Important Note about Homemade Play Dough: Although it is non-toxic, kids shouldn't eat it. It's very salty, so I'm not sure why they would want to, but it does happen. Tip: Personal experience has taught me to keep play dough away from pets as well. I can't tell you how many times our dog has eaten this and then gotten sick. It doesn't hurt her, of course, but it is a nuisance to have to clean up dog vomit while your kid is contentedly playing with his new batch of play dough. 

DIY Glitter Play Dough

We have tried a few play dough recipes over the years and despite all the minor variations, I don't think there is truly a whole lot of difference. Really, any homemade play dough trumps store-bought, hands-down. There are a few reasons for this:
1) It always lasts a lot longer.
2) It always smells much nicer.
3) It is always softer and easier to work with.
4) You always know what is in it so it isn't too terribly frightening if when one of the kids inevitably samples some.
5) It saves you money.
6) It's fun to make it and the kids can help, too.

That said, this is one of my favorite recipes for play dough, and we've been using this recipe for over a year. The fun thing about this version is, of course, the addition of glitter. Despite what you may be thinking, this is not that messy. The dough actually holds the glitter quite well, but if you are concerned, have kids play with it on a place mat. This makes for easy clean-up.

My little guy is a HUGE fan of play dough. Even though he isn't usually too keen on crafts, he is always up for making a new batch of this stuff. We have tons of plastic cookie cutters and rolling pins that we keep for play dough tools as well as plastic cutlery, saved from fast food meals and several kitchen toy items like a plastic pizza cutter that has been given a new purpose. He also enjoys driving his toy cars and trucks through the play dough, so play dough is pretty versatile.

Play dough is also perfect for gift giving. Most kids enjoy it and will play for quite a long while with minimal supervision required, which I think most moms will agree is a great bonus. Include the recipe and a few plastic cookie cutters, and voila, you have a very affordable and quick-to-create present, using items you likely already have on hand. We recently made a batch of this glitter play dough for an upcoming birthday party that my daughter was invited to. (The birthday girl is getting a few other homemade goodies including this DIY Seek 'n' Find Bottle.)

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup salt                           
• 1 Cup flour                        
• 1 Cup water                        
• 1 Tbs. cooking oil           
• 1 Tbs. cream of tartar     
  
• Food coloring                    
• Glitter                                  

Directions:

1. Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, water, and oil.
2. Cook in a sauce pan on medium heat until a ball forms. Set dough aside to cool.
3. Make a well in the dough and add a few drops of food coloring. Knead until color is well-blended. Tip: To protect your work surface from stains, do this on wax paper, a cutting board, or a place mat.
4. Add glitter in small batches, kneading it into the play dough.
5. Enjoy! Play dough will keep for several weeks in an airtight container. Tip: You don't need anything special or fancy. I have used zippered bags, Cool Whip containers, and my personal favorite, peanut butter jars.

{My kitchen helpers, ensuring that the proportion of glitter is just right!}

Rollin' in the (Play) Dough

Some things are just better when you make them yourself. Play Dough is definitely one of them, in my opinion. Here is the recipe we use:

1 cup flour

1 cup water
1 tbs oil
1 tbs powdered alum
1/2 cup salt
2 tbs vanilla
food coloring (optional)

Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until reaching the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and food coloring. Divide into balls and work in color by kneading.

This play dough is super soft, lasts longer than store-bought (we made a batch 3 months ago and it is still good after almost daily use), and smells yummy-- bonus!