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Homemade Play Dough

Much cheaper than the bought stuff, with a texture kids love. If your budding artists come up with an extra fine creation, it can be dried in a 200F degree oven to preserve it for posterity (or Grandma). Air drying also works, although it takes a few days.

Mix together in a medium sized pot:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt (yes, CUP, not teaspoon, this is not a misprint)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Add 1 cup water. Mix well and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heavy spoon, until the dough is thick – about 3-5 minutes.

Cool until it can be handled, and break into several chunks. Poke a hole in each chunk, drip in two or three drops of food coloring (a different color for each chunk, unless you’re going for something unique like monster green or dinosaur gray) and knead until the colour is evenly distributed. This is a good job for the kids. If they decide they want to use the dough while it is still marbled and streaked, that’s ok, too. It doesn’t hurt to wear kitchen gloves for the kneading, at least in the first few minutes, since the food coloring will stain fingers before it is kneaded in.

The food coloring can be added before cooking to save the trouble of kneading, as long as you don’t mind cooking a batch for each colour.

Store in airtight containers when not being used.