Colorful play dough

Once you have children over the age of one, play dough is one of those essential items that you really should always have one hand. Our supply was running low recently so I decided to try a new recipe. The kids and I were very pleased with the results.

The recipe I used came from Rockin' Granola:

2 Cups flour
4 T cream of tartar
2T cooking oil
1 C salt
2 Cups boiling water
Put all ingredients except water in a large bowl. Pour water over the mix and stir it with a spoon. Knead it with your hands (careful! Its hot!) and maybe add a little more flour if it is too "soupy" ... keep at the kneading until it is the right dough consistency. Store in an air tight container (we keep ours in the fridge and it lasts for a couple of months)

This basic recipe will make nice soft dough that looks like this:

Soft, but a little boring, right?

It's easy to spice things up by adding color.

These four colored balls were made using Kool Aid packets. Rockin' Granola walks you through the steps, but it's pretty simple. Just divide the dough into sections, pour on the Kool Aid powder, then work the powder into the dough until it is all absorbed. You can wear gloves if you are worried about your skin changing color in the process, but I didn't have that problem.
The Kool Aid powder also makes it smell delicious! This is really nice playdough to work with, nice and soft and too sticky. We made ours about a month ago and it is still going strong.

If your children prefer to eat their play dough, then you might opt for the edible peanut butter play dough version.