the play dough

Okay friends, here is the recipe we used to make Madeleine's gift over the weekend. Many thanks to Milena, who first introduced us to this pliable, satisfying dough. You can find this recipe and many more process-oriented crafting ideas in First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos. I highly recommend it.

Combine
5 cups water
2.5 cups salt
3 tbsp cream of tartar
in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. As the mixture heats, stir in
10 tbsp vegetable oil
then
5 cups flour, slowly.

Keep stirring until the mixture starts to look dry and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat. If it isn't sticky, it's done. (If it is, keep cooking and stirring a bit longer).

Place dough on the counter and knead until smooth. This is a fantastic job for children; just make sure it is cool enough.

To make Madeleine's rainbow-colored balls, I added SO MUCH food coloring. Tons. And I made half the recipe; I find that yeilds more than enough for two or even three children to share happily.

We have an uncolored batch in use that I made many months ago. A favorite quiet activity for both children involves a big hunk of dough and the contents of our nature basket (which is filled with things we have found like pine cones and rocks and shells). They tell stories and illustrate them by manipulating items from the basket - sticking shells up on their ends to make buildings, embedding acorns to serve as people. Very sweet and simple entertainment!