Homemade Playdough

Or "clay-dough" as J prefers to refer to it. Excuse me for a minute... I just adore those chubby hands. I mean, really really love them.

"B" is for my babies.

When a friend of mine mentioned they had declared a playdough-free house a few years ago, I was really amazed. I mean, I just hadn't considered the possibility - but I really liked the idea of no playdough ground into the floor, rugs, hair. What I remember about playdough was wanting the pump-type toys and that the playdough itself always seemed dried out when you got it back out of the can. And the mud color you get when you mix them all together.

Well, J wanted to do baking and we were out of butter, so I cast around for something else we could "bake." I have to say that I'm glad we waited, J and Sweet P are old enough to thoroughly enjoy molding and "baking," and I think they loved making it with me.

There are tons of recipes out there, this is the one we used:

1 cup flour
3/4 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar (I added this the next day after I went to the store)
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup salt
few drops of food coloring. In the future I might divide the dough and add different colors last but for this batch, minty green.

Mix all ingredients and stir over medium heat until smooth and warm. Remove from pan and knead (you may have to add more flour to get the right consistency, ours was sticky but became a lovely soft dough as we kneaded. I got lots of help at this point) Store in a plastic bag or airtight container when cool and between play sessions. Assemble lots of "cooking" utensils and small objects to stamp into the dough. Express a desire for a homemade birthday cake with cookies on the side. Step back.