Playdough Time!

The natives were restless at my house today.  I don't know if the girls are just tired, if the exhaustion I've felt the past two days is rubbing off on them, or they're tired of being cooped up in the house, but the girls seemed bored today. 

I've had Lucy, the daughter of my friend, Emily, here at my house since Tuesday.  She's 2 1/2, and it's crazy to me to think that a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 1/2 year old could be bored.  Usually, there's no end to the silly games the girls play together. 

To add some fun and structured play to our day, I decided to try my hand at making playdough.  It was surprisingly easy and came out much more vibrant that I would've expected.  Both girls enjoyed standing on chairs in the kitchen while I mixed the ingredients and cooked it on the stove.

Playdough when it's has just finished cooking and needs to be kneaded.

I thought I'd overcooked it, because it turned out so lumpy and thick.  But as soon as I added vanilla, stirred, and then began kneading it, it turned into the soft, pliable texture you'd expect from store-bought playdough.

With a little kneading, it was the perfect texture.  It's hard to tell with my fluorescent lighting, but this playdough is a great hot pink color.

Their Responses

Lucy had a blast.  She was so excited the entire time I was cooking the playdough.  This was not her first rodeo, so she knew what she was doing and enjoyed herself.

See the duck she made:

  You don't see the duck?  Why, it's right there.  It's the largest of all the pink blobs.  If you had the imagination of a 2 1/2 year old, you would definitely see a duck, beak and all.  She even gave him a bath later (by putting a larger playdough blob on top of him).

Isabelle's first time playing with playdough:

She's very unsure of the whole thing, but is mildly amused as she watches Lucy have fun with it. 

This is Isabelle, crying, because mommy has just helped her play with the playdough, and now her hands are dirty.  She hated the stuff. 

 

Isabelle only had fun when I got out the canape knives (spreaders) so the girls could safely cut their play-doh.  She liked banging her canape knife on the glass-topped table (which makes the perfect playdough spot--easy clean-up). 

She was so grouchy and miserable with the playdough that we eventually left Lucy to play to her heart's content, so that Isabelle and I could cuddle up in a chair and read Find the Puppy.

Even if it didn't make Isabelle happy, Lucy had fun and I thought playdough-making added a nice bit of variety to our day. 

Recipe
There are tons of playdough recipes online.  I came across this one recently on the Life as Mom blog, when Jessica discussed providing a pre-school education at home.  She gave a link to her sister's blog, where she discussed how to make a playdough kit.  I liked that she'd tried several recipes and finally found this one that she loves.  I love it someone else figures it out for me.  Here's her recipe:

Homemade Playdough
makes the equivalent of 2 cans of playdough
1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tbsp. oil
food coloring
1 tbsp. imitation vanilla extract

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a saucepan.  Add the water, oil, and food coloring, whisking together until smooth.  You'll add enough food coloring to bring it to the desired color.  (I used Wilton decorator colors for my playdough, because that's the only food coloring I have.  It's guaranteed to result in vibrant colors, but since it stains easily, I was concerned about it staining the girls' hands pink.  It didn't, and the color was great.)  Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it's almost set (it will be difficult to stir).  Add vanilla and stir until combined.  It will probably look lumpy, but knead it on wax paper or a cutting board and it will be smooth and pliable.


Anyone else try making playdough before?  What was your result?