Saturday, March 7, 2009

Homemade Play Dough


My son came home from school with instructions on making homemade play dough the other day. His teacher requested that we make a batch and send it to school. The students would use it for shaping their spelling words and modeling geographic maps. How fun does that sound?! We love the Montessori education philosophy. It's a very hands-on and natural way for children to learn. Montessori students become confidant of their own abilities at a very early age and develop a life-long love of learning as a result.

This was extremely easy to make, and surprising not as messy as I had anticipated.

Homemade Play Dough

1 cup plain flour
1 cup water
½ cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar (it's in the spice section of your grocery store)
1 Tbsp. oil
approx. 12 drops of food coloring

Mix all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl (batter will be a bit lumpy.) Microwave on high for 3 min. stopping every minute to stir. Turn out onto a flour surface and knead until cool. I had to let mine cool for a minute or so before I could knead it – too hot! I squished it semi-flat with the bottom of my bowl onto my floured surface so it would cool faster. Don’t let it sit there too long or it will harden around the edges. When it cools enough, the kiddos love to do the kneading. Let them knead, while you cook the next batch. Store in air tight containers - I used Zip-loc bags.

Have fun!


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