Make
Your Own Play Dough
When
we were children growing up in a farming community, our parents were
pretty self-sufficient. I don’t know whether children’s
commercial play dough was available but we never saw any. Instead, my
mother made homemade play dough with flour and salt. There are still
advantages to making your own: It’s inexpensive, you can make
it in larger quantities for Johnny’s party, and Johnny can help
make his own play dough. When you make your own, Johnny has a sense
of self-sufficiency and you demonstrate that everything fun does not
have to come from the store. Besides, you know what is in this play
dough and when it ends up in a kiddy’s mouth, there’s no
reason to be concerned—everything is edible.
The following recipe
is a big batch recipe. It is intended to be enough for a party or group
of kids and makes about ten cups of play dough—the equivalent
of twelve commercial Play Doh ® containers. If you want a smaller
batch, divide the recipe in half. If you are having a really big party
and want more play dough, make two batches--this recipe is about all
that can be made in a stand-type mixer at one time. You can also make
this play dough by hand.
If you want multiple
colors, divide the dough and knead in the food coloring after the dough
is made. If one color is sufficient, add the food coloring with the
water and save the step of kneading in the coloring.
7-8 cups all-purpose
or bread flour
3 cups salt
3 tablespoons cream of tartar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 cups hot water
food coloring
Mix seven cups of
flour together with the salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of your
stand-type mixer. Add the oil and water and knead with a dough hook
in your electric stand-type mixer for five to six minutes. (If you are
kneading by hand, knead for eight to ten minutes.) Add more flour to
get a soft, workable dough.
Store the dough
in a sealed container to keep it from becoming dry. If it becomes too
dry, place it back in the mixer bowl and knead in a dribble of water.
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