Play doh

The last time I made play-doh, it turned mouldy and gross. Then someone told me I had to cook the play-doh in order to preserve it. That was what I did today. The recipe I found went along the lines of

3 cups flour
1 cup salt
6 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 cups water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Food colouring

Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a large saucepan. Blend water and oil together in a bowl. Add to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. Add several drops of food coloring until you get the right color. Cook for about five minutes. Take the play dough out of the saucepan and put it on a cutting board or counter and knead for a few minutes. Add flour if it's too sticky. I also added in food essence to make the dough smell nice. So, the red dough had a rose essence to it and the green one vanilla.

I must admit I had a lot of fun cooking it. It was therapeutic to stir the dough mixture and there was some thrill to be had when the mixture peeled off the sides of the pot signalling that the dough was almost done. The kneading that followed made me feel like I was in a steam bath of sorts because of the heat seeping through my palms from the dough and warming me up from the inside on what could only be described as a hot day.
















The twins having experienced to dough in school knew exactly what to do with it. Using the cookie cutters on it and imprinting shapes, rolling it into balls and declaring it so. I've been told that it's necessary for them to play with dough as it develops the fine muscles in the hand as well as their imagination. And true enough, taking the rolled up pieces that we declared to be oars of a boat, both started chanting (they haven't developed the concept of tune yet) "row-row boat"













Perhaps it's an age thing but making their dough and preparing everything for them to play sure took longer than the time they actually played with it, before wondering off and leaving a Hansel and Gretel trail of dough bits round the garden.


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