I never much liked the play dough you buy in stores. Its smells funny and it has lots of chemical dyes in it to get those nifty colors. It stains carpet when it gets mashed into it to. ;) But every kids likes play dough right? Well, for several years we have either made it ourselves or bought homemade dough from crafters on Etsy.
Recently though we used a DIY play dough kit called Yohoho Dough. It comes in a nifty canister that can be reused for numerous other things and inside it you have everything you need to make 4 pounds of modeling dough. My youngsters give it a thumbs up. It is fun to watch mommy make and fun to play with. Using the canister to hide their treasures in afterwards is a bonus.
The dough is organic and non-toxic and it is a USA made product. The whole pirate concept is a winner too, my kiddos love it. Our dough is still going strong after a couple weeks. We keep it in a bento container on top of the fridge and pull it out almost every day for a few minutes or hours of doughey fun. I could REALLY see myself using Yohoho Dough for all future play dough requirements. It is waaay smoother than anything I have ever made on my own, more like modeling clay and the process was so simple.. just combine the wet and dry ingredients, heat and mix. It was easy and my kitchen stayed clean.
I used an old plastic spoon to mix because I didn’t want to get a wood one all sticky but the plastic one almost broke when the dough got stiff so use metal or wood!
You can jazz up the dough with scents and food coloring too! We plan to try that soon…
Wow, that’s very resourceful. At least, your child is safe from toxic materials from buying from a toy store.
Looks great! We’ve made homemade playdough but the consistency of yours with the Yo Ho Ho dough looks nicer. It looks like it makes a good amount so you could use 1 or 2 kits and some small containers (if you know anyone who has those plastic baby food containers, it would be a great way to reuse them) for classroom or party gifts – much healthier than the conventional alternative!
Looks good, but you still have to have a kit on hand! It looks a lot like the recipe I use on the fly when my daughter wants playdough. The only thing you have to do is make sure you cook it long enough. If you don’t, it’s a little too sticky.
This isn’t my recipe, but it’s the one I use. The nice thing is that, once I bought the Cream of Tartar to keep in my cabinet, everything else is a pantry staple, so I never have to run out to get anything.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/
I have a friend who always makes the best smelling play dough for her kids. My attempts have never worked out very well but maybe we’ll give it another try soon!
I make the kool-aid playdough. It smells great! If they eat it, it won’t kill them, but it won’t taste good either because of all the salt.
Ingredients
1-1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup salt
1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid powdered drink mix
1 cup boiling water
1-1/2 tablespoons oil
Directions
1. Mix flour, salt, Kool-Aid and oil until blended.
2. Add boiling water, mix with spoon until cool enough to knead.
3. Continue kneading until color is blended.
4. Store in air tight bag or container in the refrigerator.