A Handful of Homemade Fun

One thing my kids love to play with is Play Doh. We have a bunch of the gadgets and gizmos that make shapes and molds it into cool things. They play for hours making different kinds of foods and serving to each other, or making animals and people that have conversations with each other. It’s pretty fun to watch. Of course most of the time I’m playing with them. Showing them how to make certain foods or being the “customer” who orders the food for them to make.

With all the great gadgets and Play doh toys out there it’s funny how my kids always gravitate towards kitchen utensils and things we already have in the house. My daughter wanted the melon baller to make little ice cream cones. My son asked for the rolling pin (I have a smaller pastry one) so he could make pancakes and toast. And the egg slicer is a huge hit. We make a small ball of yellow dough and then wrap it in white dough to make an egg. Then slice it in the egg slicer and voila! A hard boiled egg.

Unfortunately with Play doh when you make all these great concoctions, it’s hard not to mix up the colors. Our Play doh always ends up looking like this…

And to buy new Play doh all the time gets expensive. I know there are cheap types of dough out there but I’m kind of a Play doh snob. I like the Play doh brand. It’s soft and pliable and doesn’t feel like it has wax or something else weird in it. But then I found this recipe. It’s great and really feels like the real Play doh. And it’s easy to make.

1 cup flour
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon oil
food coloring

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl (except for the food coloring, of course.) You will need to need it with your hands to get it smooth. Add food coloring and there you go. Homemade Play doh.

Store it in zip lock bags so it doesn’t dry out!

We had a play date the other day. My kids love it when we plan play dates. We invite friends and meet at my work. (I work in a middle school and have the great privilege of being able to go to the school on the weekends to play.) Usually we have a craft project set up for everyone to do and then play. This time we took all of our Play doh and gadgets and everyone went to town making amazing creations. Even the adults had fun! (A huge thanks to our friend Joe who played and played with the kids!!!)

The kids loved it and I didn’t have to worry about buying enough Play doh for everyone or if it would get all mixed up. I just let them at it, knowing I could always make more another day. It’s amazing how much fun I have when I’m not worrying about all of that. And in turn, my kids have more fun too!

Enjoy and have fun creating!!!