Brett and Rebecca

Doh! by Rebecca of eensies.com
Little ones and playdoh go together like peanut butter and jelly. Sure those little yellow containers say non-toxic, but your nose keeps telling you otherwise. Make your own and you know exactly what’s going into your dough, and it’s a great way to spend time with your sweetie. Well, you’re in luck: I’m sharing my tried and true recipe with you. I’ve used this recipe for years with kindergartners and first graders and more recently with my 2 year old and she loves it too.

Young children learn best from doing, so cooking activities like this are perfect, natural learning opportunities. Just remember, supervision in the kitchen is always a must! You can let them measure, pour and mix, but keep the stove portion at the end to yourself.

In general, let it be said that I’m a big fan of mise en place cooking and with kids I find it’s essential. Trust me, you don’t want to take your eyes off them for a second so you can find the salt. So set up everything you will need before you start. Most of the ingredients needed are things you probably already have around. You’ll need 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 4 tablespoons cream of tartar, 2 cups water, and about 1/3 cup vegetable oil. This recipe makes a generous amount of playdoh, but can easily be halved or doubled for some birthday party fun.

Okay, now here’s the best part… in no special order, you simply measure and mix all the ingredients together making this a perfect recipe for using with children. And you can even do all your measuring and mixing right into the cooking pot, which makes clean up a breeze- bonus! Once you’ve made your mixture (lumps are to be expected), cook it over medium-low heat, stirring until the mixture turns into a playdoh like consistency. Then, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and let cool. If you want to spice things up a bit, while the dough is still warm you can knead in a few drops of food coloring, some glitter, vanilla extract or essential oil like lavender. If stored in an airtight container, it should keep for several months.

Now, gather together some butter knives, a rolling pin and some cookie cutters and you’ve got yourself a party!

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