What's so great about play dough?
Play dough can be used for numerous types of imaginative play and can represent so many things. It can be chocolates and sweets in a sweet shop, cakes and bread in a bakery, flowers and mud in a garden centre, sand or ice cream in a beach scene, animals at the zoo/ jungle/ farm/ ocean...the list is as endless as a child's imagination!
In more focused play (with a learning intention attached) it can be moulded to form letters of the alphabet, spell out a child's name, turned into numbers, formed into 2D and 3D shapes, used to compare lengths and thicknesses and so on.
As part of simple, tactile play it can be squashed, squeezed, rolled, flattened, chopped, cut, scored, raked, punctured, poked and shredded!
And as soon as you add another element to it, the list continues to grow!
Try exploring dough using: forks and knives (plastic), pizza cutters, straws, match sticks, wool, paper clips, pencils, potato mashers, magnetic letters and numbers, plastic shapes, toy animals, small vehicles, pretend flowers, boxes, egg cartons, chocolate trays, shells, glass pebbles, feathers, twigs, leaves, pebbles, netting, fabric, pasta, buttons, cotton reels etc.
Salt dough can be used for all of the above and, even better, can be made into permanent works of art by cooking in the oven on a very low heat for 2-3 hours, then varnished!
Our favourite recipes:
Cooked Play Dough:
* 3 cups of water
* 3 cups of plain flour
* 1.5 cups of salt
* 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
* 2 tbsp of cream of tartar (or a big squeeze of lemon juice)
* few drops glycerine (for extra shine, stretch and smoothness-optional)
* Combine the ingredients in a pan and cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, until it starts to come away from the sides and forms a ball. Keep warming it until you feel it is dry enough then turn off the heat, and allow to cool a little. Put onto a surface and knead it until it becomes soft and a perfect consistency. If too sticky then add a little more flour. If too dry add a few drops of oil or a tablespoon of water at a time until it's right!
No-Cook Play Dough:
* 1/2 cup of salt
* 2 cups of plain flour
* 2 tbsp oil
* 2 tbsp cream of tartar
* 1.5 to 2 cups boiling water
* few drops of glycerine (for extra shine, stretch and smoothness- optional)
* Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl then knead it until it becomes smooth. Done!
Additional Ingredients:
* Colour: food colouring or liquid paint
* Flavouring: peppermint/ strawberry/ coffee (a teaspoon of instant)/lemon/ orange/ vanilla/ herbs
* Texture: rice/ pasta/ rock salt/ couscous/ lentils/ sand/ coffee grounds/ tea leaves/ glitter/ sequins
Salt dough recipe:
* 1 cup of flour
* 1 cup of salt
* half a cup of water
* Mix it together and knead it.
*When ready to cook, put on a baking sheet in the oven at 100 degrees C/ 200 F for 2-3 hours.
*When cool, paint or decorate and then varnish or cover with gloopy glue when dry.
Play Dough Recipes and Ideas:
