Play Dough

This play dough recipe is from my mom who calls it, "the definitive recipe for play dough". She won't have anything to do with store bought play dough because she likes this recipe so much better. I have to agree with her. When I made this recipe for my boys this week I was swimming in feelings of nostalgia and appreciation for my mom. I remember well getting to choose my color, stir the mixture as it thickened, and then massage the warm dough with my little hands. I also remember licking the salty residue off my fingers after playing with my dough. I caught Luke doing the exact same thing.

I could go on and on about the benefits of these types of real life and tactile activities for little ones. They need to use their hands to experience things, develop their fine motor skills, learn some basic chemistry, and enjoy open ended creative outlets. The most important thing, however, is that play dough is really fun. It spans all ages and abilities.

Gather ingredients:

1 cup water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
food coloring

Combine in saucepan and stir well.
Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture becomes thick and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, about two or three minutes.

Cool slightly and knead until smooth.
Proceed to make ninja turtles.

This recipe will keep a very long time in an airtight container.

P.S. I tried (and failed) to post my bio in the about us post. So here goes:

I am Carrie. I just turned 31 and live in the Washington DC metro area with my husband and our three boys. Luke is five and a half, Noah just turned three and Isaac will be a year old next week. I am not sure when my love of crafting started. I was well into college before I started to see myself as creative. I had many an epiphany about my creative abilities while taking my required art class. I try and find ways to spend more time sewing, scrapbooking, cooking, and taking pictures than I spend running errands, cleaning or picking up Legos. I will admit though, sometimes the Legos win.