Easy Playdough recipe

Recipe

1 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 c. water

1 tsp. veg oil

food coloring

Mix dry ingredients in a cooking pan (I mixed it in a bowl to begin with so Andrew could help me pour and mix the ingredients before I cooked it). Add the other ingredients. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes. You'll be able to tell when it is close to done. It will start to get pretty firm and hard to stir. Put on a lightly floured surface and turn until it's soft and smooth. Store in a Ziplock bag.

Other Materials to use:

rolling pin - a small one is best for your little child's hands to manipulate

cookie cutters

plastic knives (these aren't as sharp as metal knives)

anything they can use to smash, roll or cut

Benefits:

Vocabulary Development:

*We used Halloween and Thanksgiving cookie cutters, so we practiced those vocabulary words - turkey (and words like feather, gobble), bats (and words like wings), pumpkins (and words like stem),

*We also made snakes (and used words like long, sssss) and balls. Andrew has been learning about size, so we practiced small, medium and huge (one of his favorite words right now) by making 3 different sizes of balls. That's just what Andrew's interested in. You could use whatever words your child is working on and develop the concept during play dough time.

* Other play dough vocabulary words to use: pat, smash, roll, pinch

Math Connection:

* Different sizes of balls: small, medium, big or huge

* We made 5 small balls and counted them during the process. Andrew is working on counting to 5.

* long and short with different sizes of snakes

Fine Motor Development:

This is great for them to develop fine motor skills. When they are first starting out, and especially when they are very young, their hands won't be as strong, but that won't stop them from trying. We use a rolling pin and cookie cutters and Andrew is really starting to push harder and get the concept of it.

p.s. Don't worry if your child puts things in their mouth still. After they put this in their mouth once or twice, they won't do it again. It's disgusting.