Playdough

Tabitha is really into playdough.

The above is an example of an understatement.

Tabitha can play with playdough for hours - unfortunately, this doesn't mean I can sneak off into the next room and put on a load of washing, oh no, Mummy is required to sit and observe the playdough fun.

Nevertheless, it has been a wonderful indoor activity lately, with all the mind-meltingly hot weather, and torrential rain (did I mention we live in Melbourne?)

I make my own playdough.  It is basically free, smells a million times better than the stinky brand name version, and is free of strange chemicals.  Homemade playdough also feels much nicer - silky, like bread dough - and you can create your own colours.  It takes less than ten minutes to make, and lasts for weeks.  Have I sold you yet?

There is an 'instant version' with boiling water, but it doesn't feel as lovely, and the cooked version - the traditional one - is still so easy.  The only 'hard' part is the final stage of the stirring, because you need to really use those arm muscles!  But it's only for a minute or two - and if you're truly a weakling, rope in a strong friend/husband/neighbour.

Playdough

In a medium saucepan, sieve together 2 cups of plain flour with 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar.

Add 1 cup of fine salt.

Stir in 2 cups of warm water and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Whisk together thoroughly, until there are no more lumps (you could sieve it again if you like).

Stir over low-medium heat for several minutes with a wooden spoon, until the dough thickens and becomes playdough - the last couple of minutes, you will need to really use your arm muscles to stir!

Carefully remove (it will be hot) and knead until silky smooth, on a silicone mat or similar.  Divide into equal sections (4-6), and knead in around 6 drops of food colouring into each ball, kneading well until nicely, evenly coloured.

Remember the basics - red and yellow make orange, red (or pink) and blue make purple.  Experiment!

You can also add a few drops of lavender oil, to fragrance the playdough, during the kneading stage.

When it's done, it will look like thick mashed potatoes:

The rough ball, ready for kneading:

Silky smooth:

Ready for colouring:

Make a well in the middle of each segment, and carefully work in the food colouring:

The colour will marble in - just keep kneading until the colour is smooth and even...

Green, Blue, Purple, Pink, Orange and Yellow.  Pretty - much nicer than the colours you buy, I think!

You can store each ball wrapped in clingfilm, or you can use small jars or buy little containers for the purpose.  Try to pack the dough away after playing, and if it starts to dry out, you can knead in a few drops of water.  But it's so easy to make, you might as well just make a new batch every few weeks - and you'll find that, despite the best intentions, colours do end up getting mashed together, and you'll end up with some attractive grey/brown dough eventually.

You can buy plastic cutters, generally made by PlayDoh, but proper metal cookie cutters work best.  I have a nice collection of coloured, metal cutters which I use for cookies - stars, hearts, flowers, people, bears etc.  Tabitha loves them, I also bought a small wooden rolling pin, and we do have a PlayDoh brand 'press' which produces fun tubes of dough in star/worm/triangles etc.