Our two and a half year old daughter is very….oh, what shall we say? Let’s call her "spirited". My parents said the same about me and you know how paybacks go. You can see the wheels whirling in her head when she’s doing anything - climbing on the rock wall outside, coloring, or even washing her hands. It doesn't matter what she's doing, she's always thinking about something. It’s non-stop activity going on in that cute little blond-haired head and frankly, it's exhausting just to watch. After a sweat inducing experience with her at church on Sunday (did you know you can break a sweat while toddler wrangling in church??!? Totally possible - ask our priest!) I decided I need to channel her energy a bit. I’m trying to introduce new ways for her to expend her energy and use some of her "super powers" for good. And by good I do not mean climbing on the piano to clean the windows with diaper wipes. Illustration below.
Cue my sister - she is s a toddler taming ninja, having survived ages two AND three with twins. She's kind of a walking Pinterest board with no less than four thousand creative ideas going on, of which she executes with brilliance (love you sis!). She's my go-to in the baby and toddler department. I bribed her to share her (almost) famous play dough recipe because her kids are the masters of play dough time. When I visit, there is play dough. I figured if play dough saved her sanity during their toddler years, it's a worth a try at this house. Luckily, we already had all the ingredients in the pantry.
I will share an advance tip – wear plastic gloves when mixing the food coloring or your hands will be the many shades of the rainbow. (Mine were very smurf-like at the end of our project.) I've heard you can use a packet of Kool Aid in place of the food dye for a colored and scented play dough adventure. We'll give that a try on the next batch because we will be making this again. and again. and again. Because, well, Eleanor played with it for at least an hour while I worked in the kitchen. While the baby was napping. It was the gift that kept giving and for a brief time all felt right in the world.
Here's the recipe for homemade play dough. Or as I now think of it, sanity in a bowl.
Homemade Play Dough
Ingredients
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ cup salt
- 2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
- 2 cups boiling water
Instructions
- Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, and vegetable oil.
- Add boiling water and gradually mix until dough forms, then knead.
- Separate into balls for individual colors.
- Indent each ball and add several drops of food coloring. While wearing gloves, knead each ball to incorporate food dye.
- Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
