Saturday, December 11, 2010

We made Play doh

We didn't officially school yesterday. I'm taking it real easy for the month of December. I think we're all feeling a need for a break. I don't want to be completely rid of that structure that school provides so I still try to do an activity of some sort. Today we made play doh. I could have just bought it but I'm leery of the ingredients. Plus, it's sort of a math lesson to get in the kitchen and make it yourself.
The first recipes I tried was this one:
1 1/4 cup flour
4 Tablespoons salt
1/2 c water
food coloring
It turned out alright. It was a little gritty from the salt, I think.

The second recipe I tried was this one:
1/2 cup salt
2 1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons oil
2 cups boiling water.
What a disaster! It was terribly sticky so I just kept adding flour. It never did reach the right consistency. I gave up on it.

I looked at a few other recipes online and decided to modify the first recipe that I used. I like it best.
1 1/4 cup flour
4 Tablespoon salt
1/2 Tablespoon cream of tartar
1/2 c warm water
food coloring
I add the food color to the water and then add the salt. Using warm water helps to dissolve the salt so it doesn't feel gritty. Adding the cream of tartar helps with consistency too. It makes it more stretchy. This recipe can easily be doubled.

The girls loved it. They were able to see how play doh is made and the reward was playing with it!
We made some colored play doh. One batch was left without color so we can shape it into Christmas ornaments, bake it, and then paint it.

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