Wednesday 26 January 2011

Playdough Recipes


I've always known you could easily make your own playdough at home but with the cheap easy pots you can buy, I didn't see much point in it. Now I've realised why it's so great. If your children enjoy playdough and they like cooking (or mixing ingredients) as my son does, then making your own playdough at home ticks both boxes.

More than just the preparation, stiring, combining that they get to do, your children then get to play with the end result so it's a great indoor activity to pass some time on a cold/wet afternoon. It's also a form of messy play that doesn't get too messy and can easily be cleaned up afterwards.

There are plenty of recipes online so this is nothing original but I was recently passed on a couple of variations that I thought I would share with you:

Easy dough - a great one for children to mix together themselves and keeps for a week if stored in an airtight container.

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 cup of salt
  • 1 cup of water (add half a cup at a time)
  • Food colouring (optional)

Cooked dough - this type stores well in an airtight container. Your children will need more adult supervision for making this one as some cooking is required.

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup salt 1 tablespoon of oil
  • 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
  • 2 cups of water
  • Food colouring (optional)
Put all the ingredients into a pan and cook on a medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat when the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and knead it gently on a work surface.


Stretchy dough - this one will not keep so discard after playing is over for the day.

  • 3 lbs of self-raising flour
  • 1 1/4 pints of water

Shiny dough - a tough pliable dough ideal for cutting out shapes with pastry cutters.

  • 3lbs plain flour
  • 1lb salt
  • 2 tablespoons of oil
  • Water as needed

Clay dough - a non-sticky dough best suited for modelling. Dry hard in the oven before painting.

  • 1lb plain flour
  • 1lb salt
  • Water as needed
Do you have any other recipes to add? Do you and your children make playdough at home?
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Photo credit

3 comments:

  1. We have only made the cooked dough before, so I love all these recipes! We will definately be trying them. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the 'shiny dough' is what we call 'pâte à sel'in French. It can be baked and painted. Very versatile. I agree, making your own dough is fantastic!!

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  3. This post reminded me of my own childhood. I found a recipe for playdough in a book and it was my favorite thing to make. I remember coming home from school and begging my mother to let me. It's great you are sharing these recipes for such a creative pastime.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading. I'd love to have your comments and thoughts!