Monday 13 October 2008

Creative Experiences: Microwave Playdough Recipe/Tute

I love playdough.

I loved the "Creative Experiences" part of my Child Care course back in '97. I have a huge folder of recipes and ideas for creative things to do with children, and I pull ideas out of it all the time for Elliot. I figured I should share them with others since they are activities which meet the Consumption Challenge criteria while giving our little ones fun things they can do at home.

Playdough is horrid to make on the stovetop, and it's horrid if you make the uncooked version. Making playdough with your microwave will have you wanting to make some every week.

1) Mix these ingredients in a microwave safe dish:
1.5 cups of plain flour.
1/4 cup of salt.
1.5 tablesppons oil.
3 teaspoons cream of tartar.
1.5 cups water.
Food colouring - it's a guessing game, just have fun.

Then it will feel like a sticky goop and look like this:


2) Cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir.
It will be inconsistent in texture (some cooked, some uncooked, some dark, some light) and look like this:


3) Cover and microwave for a further 2 minutes.
Now it is evenly cooked throughout, and looks like this:


4) Take it out of the container and as soon as it is not so hot that you are running around the house screaming "Hot! Hot! Burnies!" then you should have some fun playing with it to smooth it out so it looks like this:

See, that was easy!

Of course, if your child is helping you with this recipe, perhaps you will want to let it cool just a little more.

I made a double quantity of this playdough for Elliot's 2nd birthday party. The boys all had fun playing with it, and when home time came I send each child home with a play-sized ball of fun which have kept these children amused for hours ever since.

(Elliot's in the orange top in the middle).

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