Garlic Press+Playdough=Fun!

Play-dough.  What would we do without it?  Growing up one of the best things was when my mother would make each of us a new batch of play-dough.  We even got to choose our own colors!  The homemade stuff is way better than the store bought stuff.  It's super easy to make (recipe at the end of this post) and way easier for little hands to manipulate.  That reminds me, I think I better add some cream of tarter to next weeks shopping list.  It would be fun to have more than the one color (red) we currently have!

Never was there such a well loved garlic press as there is in our house.  Play-dough in and of itself provides hours of entertainment, but throw the garlic press into the mix and I can get any other number of things accomplished while they play with play-dough! They are even fabulous about sharing.  Each taking one turn, asking for help if they can't quite squeeze the handles as a result of having stuffed too much play-dough in the hole, and then handing it to the other one.  What awesome sisters! 

In addition to the garlic press, we get out the bin of people/figurines/ponies.  They love to stick them in the play-dough.  And the wooden pizza cutter comes in handy too!  We have these wonderful stampers that we got at the teacher supply store that they love, but the garlic press. The garlic press is the holy grail of play-dough toys!

The picture below was too good to pass up posting. They had just noticed some birds outside on our deck and were surprised to see the huge bluejay that appeared today.  The look on Em's face is priceless!

Our Play-dough Recipe:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons cream of tartar
Food coloring of your choice

Mix all ingredients together in a pot and cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until it forms a ball.  I recommend using a wooden spoon. The dough ball will form faster than you think!

Turn the dough ball out onto the counter and knead it for a minute or two.  Be sure to let it cool before you give it to the children to play with.

Depending on how bright you want the color to be will depend on what type of coloring technique you use. For pastel colors, add liquid food coloring before cooking. For bright colors, use powdered tempera paint or frosting paste kneaded into dough after cooking. For scented play-dough, knead in a small package of Kool-Aid after cooking.

Store in a ziploc bag or air tight container and it will bring hours of fun for many months to come.  Don't forget to get out the garlic press.  Trust me on this one, it's totally worth it!