Often, our most peaceful moments as a family occur when
there is playdough involved. Bo makes pizzas, cupcakes and, more recently,
Christmas crackers (I found a keyring buried inside a long lump of playdough this
morning) and Christopher makes irregular-looking lumps that he claims to be
steamrollers and tractors. He then sprinkles blobs around the house, always
making sure he gets at least a few lumps in my shoes.
And I get to drink a cup of tea on the sofa while the café
staff are kept occupied. It works for everyone.
Our playdough is also one of our favourite gifts to give Bo
and Christopher’s friends. We can put all our love into it, create imaginative
wrapping and we know it will bring them as much happiness as it brings us.
So, here is the best-ever playdough recipe. It is so easy –
takes about 5 minutes in all – and, once you get a stock of the supplies you
need, can be whipped up at a moment’s notice whenever you need it! It is also
fun for older children to help with preparing it.
What you will need:
For the playdough:
1 cup plain flour
½ cup salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup water
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir together as it
heats up – it should take only a couple of minutes at medium to high heat to
stiffen and turn into dough. Once it is ready, remove from saucepan and divide
into sections to decorate.
To decorate:
Food colouring
Glitter
Lavender essential oil (if you want it to smell lovely)
Add colour, glitter and lavender oil to each section of the
playdough and kneed together in your hands until the colour has evened out in
each one.
Store in an airtight container or bag and combine with blunt
knives, spoons, cookie cutters and rolling pins for maximum fun! For wrapping, greaseproof paper tied up with wool looks good and keeps the playdough fresh.
The simple beauty of playdough!
