Here is something very easy to make and for the kids to help along with you. Hours of fun on one of your wet, windy days. xxx
DIDDILY DEE DOT'S DREAMLAND WELCOMES THE WONDERFUL
PASTIMES 4 UHere
is a really good recipe for play dough and some ideas of how to make
things with the children. Because it is softer and easier to mould, it
is ideal for tiny hands to manage and it can be a
wonderful for helping to teach the child how to make all those shapes we
write on paper. Now they can help make the dough and then make
wonderful objects with their hard work finished.
A PLAY DOUGH RECIPE
Ingredients
2 cups of white plain flour
1 cup of cooking salt
1 dessert-spoon of Cream of Tartar
1/3 cup of olive oil
Food colouring according to strength required
Water
METHOD
Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly. Separately mix well: small quantity of water with the oil & food colouring. Mix
the ingredients together with a wooden spoon & keep
adding small quantitites of more water until mixture is smooth, and
the consistency is like thick paste or custard. Don't worry about it
sticking to everything at this stage it will get better he, he , he.
Pour
into a shallow non stick tray, spread out and place in a hot oven
(200°) for
a few minutes. The mixture will swell a little and it is here that you
pour away the surplus water and then that yucky sticky-ness will vanish. Do make sure you don't leave it in the oven too long, it will otherwise be a solid brick and not a moulding dough .
Now let it cool enough to touch before kneading well until it is nice and smooth, it should be soft
and shouldn't stick to your hands. If the dough turns out too
sticky, add more flour gradually and knead it in until it no longer
sticks to your fingers.
If
any mixture sticks to the work surface, sprinkle a little flour down
first. (Like when mummy is making pastry, that is called dough as well
kids!)
The play dough is now ready to use….have fun!! Don't
forget you can make many colours by blending some of the food colouring
together, especially if you haven't got many colours. 
The mixture will be too salty to be tempting to eat, but should a child try, the ingredients are normal non toxic kitchen ones.
CAUTION: Do not leave in oven too long or you will end up with very salty bread.
STORE:in an air tight container or plastic bag. No need to refrigerate. It
will keep for months, as the salt is a preservative and the white flour
is virtually dead.
Other things you might need
Basic shape cutters small enough for a young child to hold & to fit in a small cake/muffin tray.
A small rolling pin, plastic non-sharp knife & a garlic press.
A few ideas of what you can do with your play dough
Take a good handful of dough and help child to roll it out fairly thinly.
Then use the shape cutters, helping the child to cut and remove the
dough & asking them which shape they would like next. Think
“share” rather than “show” as children love to have their own input.
Have the child place the little shapes into the muffin pan, counting as you go.
Next, some hand dexterity… start off by showing how to make a ”sausage” –
rolling the dough into a sausage on the table with both hands. Here
our little boy is dangling it back and forth to see how bendy it is.
Now could be the time to introduce a non sharp rounded end plastic knife to
cut up the “sausage”. First show the cutting process. Then if
necessary, assist the child to cut by placing your hand over his/hers
on the knife to help them feel the necessary pressure needed to push
down and cut. Count the pieces as they are cut off.
Now take two smallish piece of dough and start off rolling 2 balls.
Give the child one and have them copy your hand movements “round and
round”. Soon they will be rolling their own unassisted. Have fun
rolling your balls to one another. And once again I must thank the people in Australia who posted
this article was created for Kidspot - Australia's parenting resource for preschool 
Dough people
Ingredients
- 3 cups plain flour
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup water
- craft paint (acrylic works best)
- paintbrushes
Method
To make the dough, combine 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 cup of
salt and 1 cup of water in a mixing bowl. Knead the dough until it is
smooth and rubbery.
Shape each ‘doll' by making a ball for the head, a oval for the
trunk and small cylinders for arms and legs …and tails. (Remember, the
bottoms of the shoes will need to be level for the figure to stand up on
its own.)
Stick body together with a touch of water to make the dough stick.
Now add details to the body, hair, eyes, nose, ears plus any clothing features ie. Bows, shoes, hats etc
Bake the figures on a foil-lined cookie sheet for 1 hour - 180c
oven. Remove from the oven and set a side until cool enough to handle.
Get painting.
Unbaked dough will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
Find more:
Created by Meredith aka Miss Popsi for Australia's leading website for crafts and kids activities, Kidspot.
Another ideal use for home made playdough, is making it into plaques.. This
is the link that I placed on Facebook ; You can make an impression of a
foot or hand, paw or name. just follow the way to do it at
"WhiteAmber's" link below. Enjoy xx
http://whiteamber.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/precious-moments-need-to-be-captured-moulded-and-kept-for-years-to-come/
Hugs Dr. Dodiddily and the Dee Dot's xxx
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