Playing play-dough

In a desperate move to  entertain the Bug (possibly molars moving, arg who knows? but a grumpy clingy babe needed distracting) I made some no cook play-dough (recipe from The Imagination Tree, I've tweaked the method a little). 
Normally I have two go to play-dough recipes. The one my mum always made from the cream of tartar box (lets dub it the traditional version), and a jelly crystal one my sister found on Facebook. The jelly crystal one is a much nicer consistency and doesn't leave that salty feeling on your hands. The 'traditional' one is easier in that I always have the ingredients in the pantry (jelly is not a common staple... yet). Both take a bit of elbow grease and dedicated (aka un-interrupted by minis) mixing over a hot stove. However up until now I'd never tried a no-cook option. Maybe because pre-motherhood play-dough was not really a priority, and also because mum had always made the cooked version, therefore it never occurred to me there was any other way. However the following recipe was simple, quick, mostly child participation friendly and had pretty much the same result as my 'traditional' version as far as texture and performance go.

No Cook Play-dough

1C flour

1/4 C salt

1T cream of tartar

(Optional) Natural fruit based Powdered Glob paints

3/4 C boiling water (divided into 2portions - 1 half cup, and 1quater C measure) 

1T vegetable oil

(Optional) Few drops of glycerin (apparently it makes it glossier) 

(Optional) food colouring (if not using the powdered paint) 

Mix the first 3 ingredients in a bowel. If using powdered colour you can add it now. Bug loves to mix while I add. She especially liked when I added the powder paint because she could see the result of the mixing better (I'm now thinking aloud (sorta) that turmeric or coco powders could be interesting to experiment with... Hmmm). 

Add the oil and glycerin (if using)  to the 1/2 measure of hot water and add to the dry ingredients. This is the part mummy takes over for a few minutes, despite possible protests from your mini. Mix into a dough adding the 2nd measure of water a little at a time till mix pulls together into a sticky ball. You may not need all of the hot water. Add desired amount of food colouring.

Knead till dough looses it's stickiness (add a little more flour if needed) and the colour is evenly mixed. 

It is now ready to squish and shape or stick into an airtight container and store in the fridge (apparently it keeps for up to 6months)
How easy is that! I'm not sure I'll bother with cooking play-dough ever again.

Potato mashers, jam jar lids, spoons, forks, cups, and textured plastic toys (that can be washed) make for good squishing and mooshing toys.

 We also chucked in some Rose petals for some texture and colour (they didn't stick to the dough so could be removed before we packed away.

 

And yes, for an hour or so I had a happy mini... until she started throwing clumps of play-dough on the floor and after repeated warnings, had to go into time out. Ah well. Tomorrow will be a better day!

 

*K*