Play-Doh is one of our favorite winter activities. My kids will sit and play with it for hours. Yes, it does get a little messy, but it is worth the mess.
We often start off our homeschool day with sensory play. We like to change it up between play-doh, a baking box, a rock box, and a rice box. My kids love this part of our day! (Details on these other sensory bins coming)
Why is sensory play important?
Sensory play helps kids develop:
- Gross Motor Skills
- Fine Motor Skills
- Social Skills
- Self Control
- Language Skills
While playing with play-doh kids are using their imaginations, being creative, discovering things that work and don’t work, leading to a better understanding of the world.
I provide you with the two play-doh recipes I use: colored play-doh and mud. You will love them!
Why Homemade?
I make homemade play-doh because it is really easy, it’s cheap, lasts so much longer than the store-bought, and has a great texture. I keep the play-doh in Tupperware containers and it has stayed nice for 2 years!
If you have never made homemade play-doh, try this play-doh recipe! It is super easy to make and quick. In 8 minutes you can have a big ball of perfect play-doh. Plus, your kids can get involved in the process of making the play-doh.
Awesome Play-Doh
Materials
- 1 cup flour
- ⅓ cup salt
- 2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- food coloring
Instructions
- Add flour, salt, and cream of tartar to your saucepan and stir it up.
- Turn the stove to medium heat
- Add 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon of oil, and your food coloring to the pan.
- Begin stirring. It will look lumpy and that is ok. Just keep stirring.
- When it all starts to stick together let it cool on wax paper for two minutes.
- Knead the play-doh until it is all smooth.
- Check out the pictures below to see how each step looks.
Step 1:
Step 2:
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Step 7:
Repeat for as many colors as desired
Mud
The other play-doh recipe that we love is “mud”. We made this recipe over a year ago and it turned out amazing. We keep it in a Tupperware container and it is just as good now as it was when we first made it.
The boys drive trucks in the mud, they play with their Fisher-Price animals in it. You definitely want to make this play-doh. The only tweak I would say about this recipe is I would cut it in half. Not because you won’t use it all, but because it is incredibly hard to stir this large recipe. My husband and I had to take turns stirring it up. Other than that, this recipe is perfect!
This play-doh recipe smells like hot Chocolate and young children may try to eat the mud. Yes, I do know this from experience.
I hope you and your kids have a great time trying out these two play-doh recipes. You won’t regret making this quick and easy play-doh. Not only will your kids have a blast, but you will want to sit and play as well.
Looking for another play-doh recipe? Here is a fun fall pumpkin play-doh recipe by Nicole.
Make it a great day!
