Homemade Play Dough

My kids love play dough...

even the older ones still like to make sculptures out of it....and it is so easy to make.  It makes a great rainy-day activity--the kids can help every step of the way...

Here's what you need:

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups salt

3 cups water

2 Tb oil

1 Tb cream of tartar

food coloring

coconut, mint or any other extract you like to smell :)

1. Combine flour, salt, water, oil & cream of tartar in a large, heavy saucepan.  Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until clumps begin to form (it will look really ugly for a while) and then forms into a bigger 'blob' and is too hard to stir with a spoon.  Remove from heat.

2. Allow to cool off a little, then turn out onto the counter and knead until smooth. Add the extract here if you like (I used coconut)...remind little kids that although it smells great--it doesn't taste good at all :)

 3. Divide play dough & place in resealable plastic bags. Squeeze in a few drops of food coloring.  Close the bag and smoosh it around a little to start to mix the color in...once there are no more pockets of food coloring (it will appear marbled) remove it from the bag and knead until a solid color...why do this? it keeps your hands from being multi-colored for a few days-once the color is mixed in a little, it won't stain your hands :)

Store in an air-tight container....Have fun!

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