After not having play dough last week and then not being able to find any at Wal-Mart due to remodels, I decided to try to make my own. I had never made play dough before, so this was a new experience. I wanted to make it safe for Eli to play with and fun for the girls. I decided to make some scented play dough for them to use with their little ice cream set. I found a recipe for all natural scented and dyed play dough on Olive Juice Mama. I only wanted to make chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry for now, but I will likely be back to try more scents in the future.
The play dough recipe!
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water
food coloring (or whatever you use for scents or dyes)
Mix everything in a pot over low heat until it starts to pull away from the pot into a ball. I am impatient and this was taking way too long, so I upped my heat to medium-low and it only took about 20 minutes.
Put the cooked dough on wax paper and knead a little to smooth it out. I stirred mine a lot in the pan before getting it out, so it was pretty smooth when I got it out. Unfortunately it was also a bit sticky since I increased the heat. As it cooled most of the stickiness went away.
For the vanilla I simply added 1 T vanilla extract.
For the chocolate, I added 3 T cocoa.
For the strawberry I added 1 T strawberry extract as well as some dye I made from frozen strawberries. To make the dye I boiled 1 C of frozen strawberries in 1 C of water and then simmered for 15 minutes. I only used about half of the dye I made.
The girls really liked how it smelled and that it was so much softer then regular play dough. They didn't really like the fact that it was still a little sticky. They had to keep a wet rag near by to wipe their hands on, so I guess next time I make it I will have to be a bit more patient. They also both had to try it; which I don't really blame them for because it did smell delicious! Of course it did NOT taste delicious! It is super salty, but safe to eat.
Eli definitely thought it was for eating, and tried several times. All results ended in the same icky face. He did enjoy poking it with his fingers and trying to run away with it.
It should be fun to come up with more color and scent combinations in the future. Who knows, maybe the girls will even help!
