How to make play dough that your kids will love

When you’re a freelancing mum (or ‘simply’ a parent, come to that) you’re expected to come up with fabulous kids’ activities at the drop of a baby’s shoe. And if you’re stuck for ideas, play dough is always a winner.

Kids love play dough. It’s sticky. It’s messy. It’s fun. And it leads to ever so much creativity - not least your own attempts to make an ‘Ooh this looks scrumptious’ face when you’re presented with a pink, brown and green mess and solemnly informed it’s your ice cream. 

Being completely honest, as a parent, I’m a tad less keen on play dough. It’s sticky. It’s messy. And I always find little bits of it in the most unexpected places a day or two after we’ve used it, however well we clean up. But I have to admit that play dough can keep my kids happily occupied for an hour or two, even now they’re past their pre-school days. And if their creations don’t quite work out first time, we can roll it back up and start again with almost no fuss involved. 

Even better, if you don’t have any play dough to hand, it’s easy to make your own. All you need is a couple of big mixing bowls, some plain flour, vegetable oil and warm water plus a selection of food colourings. It’s great to get your kids involved too – meaning you’ve got a whole extra activity to keep them busy. That’s definitely a win in my book!

If you fancy giving it a go, here’s my recipe for making your own play dough.

Play dough ingredients

• 1 cup (8 tbsp) of plain flour 

• ¼ cup (2 tbsp) of salt

• ½ cup (60 ml) of warm water

• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil

• Food colouring in colours of your choice
  

Play dough instructions

1. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the warm water with the oil and a few drops of food colouring. (Tip: Experiment with blending drops of different colours. Just be warned that your kids can get very distracted by this part!)

3. Slowly pour the coloured water into the flour mix. Stir the mixture as you pour.

4. Once the coloured water is stirred into the flour, knead the mixture with your hands until all the flour is fully blended in. If it seems super sticky, add a little extra flour at a time until you get to your perfect consistency.

5. Repeat the process with as many different colours as you want.

6. Ta dah - your play dough is now ready to use.

Tip: If you want to keep your play dough, pop it into an airtight sandwich bag or container and store it in your fridge.

Ideas for play dough tools

Now you’ve created your perfectly coloured play dough, it’s time to play. You can form all kinds of creations with just the play dough itself or, for extra fun, check out what’s lurking in your kitchen cupboard or around your house - pretty much anything that’s child-friendly and you don’t mind getting a bit messy can be transformed into a play dough tool.

Here are my top 10 ideas to get you started:

1. Plastic cups, plates and bowls: great as moulds and for play dough tea parties

2. Rolling pin: always a hit - whether they’re for general use, child-sized or even super-duper textured

3. Reusable cake cases: show off those gorgeous play dough cakes

4. Forks and spoons: add texture and designs to the play dough

5. Cookie shape cutters: brilliant for more precise shapes and edges

6. Garlic press: those lovely worm-like strands are wonderful as ice cream toppings, hair or pretty much anything!

7. Baking tray: to present that fantastic play dough handiwork (and keep it off the kitchen table)

8. Letter and shape stamps: fabulous for printing in the play dough

9. Plastic scissors: the type with zig zag edges are particularly fun

10. Sea shells: perfect for creating unusual textures, stamping patterns, using as moulds…

Share your creations

Have tons of fun creating. Share your pictures on Instagram and tag @freelancingmums so I can admire them too! 

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