The BEST Play Dough 

When you have four children, rainy days can get… well, it’s best to try to keep them all as entertained and contained to one room as possible — and we have a  play dough recipe that does just that!

I know a lot of people avoid the recipes you have to cook because they assume they will be more difficult and time-consuming, however, his recipe whips up every bit as fast as the non-cook recipes. The end-result is elastic, soft, smooth play dough that will stay pliable even if you forget to put it away. (Not that that ever happens here *wink*)

What you’ll need…

2 tbsp oil
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar

optional: food coloring, glycerin or corn syrup, glitter

For this particular batch of bold, glittery play dough, I used all of the optional ingredients for optimal fun!

What you’ll do…

Mix together oil, water, food coloring, and (if using glycerin) one or two small drops of glycerin (this makes the play dough extra stretchy, shiny and smooth, but too much will make it sticky, so use it sparingly!).

Cook the well-mixed concoction over medium heat, until it has heated up a bit and then stir in the rest of the dry ingredients, stirring constantly. You should reduce the heat a bit (if you tend to cook on high like I do) after adding the dry ingredients but be sure to keep stirring the mixture until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, forming a ball.

Amazingly, this only takes a few, short minutes!

Remove your play dough from the pan to cool. If you are going to add glitter, this is when to do it. (I let the kids do this once…ONCE. Take that as you will.)

When the play dough is cool enough to touch, you can press a hole into the center of the dough and pour in some glitter, then it’s as simple as kneading it through! (Note: if you add the glitter while cooking, the other ingredients will dull the glitter so it is best to add it after it is cooked for ultimate pizzazz.)

This play dough will keep for weeks if stored in an air tight container or zip lock bag.