What do you do when your 3 year old boy is energetic, loud and wants to be in the midst of EVERYTHING while you're trying to teach your attention-challenged older children?? Why, play dough of course! First thing this morning, Scamp and I whipped up a double batch of this stuff. He requested yellow and green, which of course ended up a lovely shade of chartreuse as the morning went on. I have a big bucket of play dough toys I purchased from Lakeshore Learning and let him have at it. Not only did it offer HOURS of fun for him, but Sugar and Squirrel got in on the fun during their short breaks from schoolwork and I had force them to clean up and kick them all outside at 12:30pm. Play dough is definitely worth the pennies and small amount of time it takes to make the stuff. Another benefit is the longer they play with it, the more it dries on the floor and the easier it is to clean up! All it required was a little bit of sweeping and the house looks presentable again!
Here's the recipe:
Fantastic Play Dough
1c. All-Purpose Flour
1/2tsp. Cream of Tartar
1/2c. Salt
1c. Water
1tsp. Vegetable Oil
Mix all ingredients together in a pot. Heat and stir constantly. When it starts to stick together, remove from heat and knead on a floured surface. Add food coloring if desired and knead into the dough (this can be kinda messy and I've found I like paste food coloring a LOT better for this). Have fun!
