Making Playdough - the BEST Recipe

Best. Playdough. Ever. 

I've been making playdough a very long time. Long before I was a mom, I was a therapist. Before that, I was an early learning center director.  We made our own playdough - every single time. It was tons cheaper, lasted lots longer, smelled great, and you know how I feel about cooking with kids, right? All that math, science, reading, and sensory goodness...Yes, we made it. 

I still make it. I have a favorite recipe after trying quite a few.  The BEST EVER PLAYDOUGH is a made with Kool-Aid or some other unsweetened powered drink mix. That stuff was made to dissolve in water and that's the trick that so many people miss. Dissolve that color in the water BEFORE you mix it in the dry ingredients. Viola~ no color on the hands. EVER. Oh, the fruity fresh aroma of Kool-Aid playdough. What kid would NOT love it? In fact, I've held workshops with adults - parents, teachers, administrators, and such that can't keep their hands off the playdough.  Yes, I just give them some to take home and we are all happy. 

Enough chatter, here's the recipe:

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/2 cup salt

2 TBS cream of tartar

2 TBS vegetable oil    

2 pkg unsweetened Kool-Aid 

Put water in pan on low heat. Stir in Kool-Aid and dissolve. Add oil, then add dry ingredients.  Mix well and keep stirring until the mixture forms a ball of dough in the center of the pan.  This usually takes about 2-3 minutes, but you will know it when the playdough pulls away from the sides of the pan and makes a ball in the center. Remove from heat and dump out onto a clean, smooth surface.  Begin to knead the dough as soon as it is cool enough to touch.  Don't be a wimp. This is the therapeutic part - kneading that warm smelly playdough. Work it out. It's like a reverse massage. Ok, maybe not so much.

Of course, you can change it up. Instead of Kool-Aid, how about powdered cinnamon or ground coffee? That gives it more of a rough texture. You could leave it white, add glitter and there you have sparkly snow playdough.  We've added peppermint oil for a holiday flair.  Be creative. Be sensory. It's great. It's playdough. 

Don't forget to throw in a few kitchen gadgets or cookie cutters for play, but not right away. Let them just use their  hands and fingers for awhile. It's just plain fun.  If you have a little one that is texture shy, sit their favorite little toy on top. Let them rescue it from from the awful Playdough.  Then push it down a bit into the dough.  Then farther into the playdough and before long they are touching that stuff to uncover their beloved toy! Hide something tiny so they must use their little fingers to dig around. Oh, they joy!

For the mess sensitive parent out there and simply for the fact that boundaries are good for us, use a vinyl placement for your playdough play. Every time. Keep the playdough on your mat. Every time. Boundaries are good. Routine is a good companion.  

This mixture will keep for months if you seal it up in a ziplock bag immediately after play.  Play. Clean up. Zip it up. Of course, you might not want to keep it for months because little hands have big germs and kids do like to put things in their mouth.  Again, even   adults want to taste this yummy good playdough. It's from your cupboard except for the germs. So, keep it as long as you are comfortable.