I love play dough! It is great for texture play, helps concentration and imaginative play, it is amazing for fine finger control and bilateral co-ordination, Toddlers and pre schoolers particularly love it!
This recipe is definitely my favourite.
Play dough ingredients
1 cup of flour
half a cup of salt
1 tablespoon of cream of tartar
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
half a cup of boiling water
To make the play dough
Add all of the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and add the tablespoon of vegetable oil.
With a metal spoon stir the mixture and add the boiling water into the mixture in stages. The mixture quickly forms into a dough and you may not need all of the water so adding gradually is helpful.
As soon as the mixture forms, take it out of the bowl and kneed it for a couple of minutes, be careful of the temperature of the dough from the boiling water. The dough quickly becomes smooth and stretchy and it is amazingly tactile.
The ingredients can be doubled up to make a larger batch of dough.
If you are adding colour, mix a small amount with the boiling water and add it at that stage. I use these smaller batches to make several colours of dough.
Store the dough in the fridge in an airtight container or bag and it’ll last for several weeks.
Do check the condition of the dough before offering it to your child.
This activity is for an older baby, who is successfully weaning just in case any dough is consumed. This dough is made with edible ingredients but it doesn't taste that pleasant, it's really salty!
Please never leave your little one unattended with play dough.
Activities you can do with play dough -
stamp
mark make with shapes, toys or mega bloks!
roll
poke with your finger (amazing for finger isolation and strength)
cut with cookie cutters
put other textures into the dough - e.g. build structures with dried spaghetti -
shape, squeeze and mould!
cut shapes and dry out on a really low oven to make ornaments or shapes you can decorate when they harden
It is an amazing activity for fine motor control!
Let me know if you try the recipe at home and what your little ones thought!
Love Elisa x
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