The Best Old Fashion Entertainment…Playdough

As my babysitting week continues….
We have been trying to keep the kids busy this week and trust me, with all these little ones it can be a challenge.  Yesterday I dug through my recipes and found my playdough recipe.  The recipe was my faithful friend when I was doing childcare and it proved to be a hit yet again.

Here’s the recipe:  I multiply it times 4 if I have five children.
1/4 c salt
1 c hot water
1 c flour
2 T cream of tarter
1 T vegetable oil
Food coloring in amount and color of your choice.
Mix that together on a pan on the stove over medium heat, stirring constantly.  It will clump together.  Once it’s all together in a ball, put sprinkle of flour out on the surface and knead small amount of flour in until it’s consistant to playdough.  It takes very little extra flour. 

I always experiment with the kids adding red and yellow food color to let them see it makes orange playdough.  They love white playdough with glitter in it during the winter to make snow creatures.    Don’t be afraid to sit down and play with the kids.  Sometimes they need to see you making a sculpture to know how to do it. 

While doing childcare, I had a parent comment to me once about playdough.  A child was telling their dad the fun they had with playdough at my house and the child asked if the parent would get the playdough out once they got home.  The parent said, “Oh that junk.  It’s so messy, we threw that out.”   

Right then and there I decided playdough would be a staple at my house whether it was messy or not because it was something that was special for my house….so don’t underestimate the power of playdough.  It has kept the kids here busy for about an hour each day.  That was a WONDERFUL break for me and some valuable fine motor work for them!!