Play doh offers a fun and creative way for kids to try their hands on new skills. However, the market-bought play doh is expensive and does not seem to last long. You buy it today and the kids are left asking for more again after a few days. Homemade play doh, on the other hand, saves you money and the kids enjoy making it themselves. Here is a simple recipe for natural play doh your kids can enjoy playing with for hours without any harmful ingredients. Moreover, it can last for months without getting hard. All you need to do is keep it in an air-tight container.
DIY Play Doh Using Flour and Salt
- Mix one-fourth cup of salt with one cup of flour. If available, you can also add one table spoon cream of tartar.
- Mix 4-5 drops of desired food color with a half cup of warm water. This will help add color to your doh without getting your hands dirty.
- Pour the colored water slowly into the flour-salt mixture, as you stir it. Once the mixture is properly stirred, knead the flour until it gets absorbed. If you find that the dough is over-sticky, add some more flour in the mixture.
- If you’d like to have a glittery doh, try adding about a tablespoon of glitter along with the color.
You can make play doh of various colors using the above process.
DIY Salt-Free Play Doh
If you are concerned about your kids swallowing the dough, you may want to go for a salt-free preparation. In this recipe, we will replace salt with corn starch, lemon juice, and coconut oil.
- Mix together half cup of flour, half cup of corn starch (non-GMO), 1 tablespoon coconut oil, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
- Mix 4-5 drops of desired food color in a cup of warm water.
- Pour the colored water slowly into the flour mixture, as you stir it. Once mixed, knead the flour until it gets absorbed.
- Leave the mixture for cooling.
Play Doh Ideas and Activities
Play doh and kinetic sand can be used in a number of ways for entertaining, educating, and developing kids. Children love to make different shapes and products using play doh. Making play doh ice cream cups, for instance, is a popular activity among kids, where they fill up their toy cups with doh or kinetic sand in the shape of ice cream of different colors.
Some of the common toys your kids may need while playing with play doh include the following:
- Kitchen utensils
- Rolling pins
- Silverware
- Cookie cutters
- Scissors
- Plastic knives
- Mason jar rings
Some kids may be just happy rolling the play doh into blocks, balls, snakes, and various other shapes. Others may enjoy making monsters, spaghetti towers, birthday cakes, pizza, pet food, etc. from it. Play doh is such a versatile item that one can use it for almost any fun activity.
