Dough+Recipes

=Cooked Homemade Playdough= This is an easy recipe that makes nice, stretchy and smooth playdough that is nice to work with when it's warm. It also keeps for several days in an airtight container or zipper bag in the fridge, and is still lots of fun to play with cold.

Ingredients:

 * 1 tbsp cooking oil
 * 1 cup flour
 * 2 tsp cream of tartar
 * 1 cup water
 * 1/2 cup salt
 * 2 tsp food colouring

Instructions:

 * 1) Add the food colouring to the water.
 * 2) Mix the ingredients together in a pot.
 * 3) Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.
 * 4) As soon as the dough is no longer sticky and suddenly gathers together in a glob, take the pot off the stove immediately.
 * 5) Flour a board or the counter, and knead the playdough until it is smooth.
 * 6) Play! Some ideas:


 * roll out the dough and use cookie cutters
 * make islands, forests, ponds, gardens, etc. and play with some small plastic animals in their new 'home'
 * roll the dough into snakes and worms
 * make playdough letters and numbers

=Salt Dough= This is an easy recipe that makes a clay that you can roll out and use cookie cutters, or shape into anything you want - and then bake until hard. It is perfect for making homemade Christmas tree decorations, or homemade toys like little people and animals.

Ingredients:

 * 1 tbsp cooking oil
 * 2 cups flour
 * 1 1/2 cups water
 * 1 cup salt

Instructions:

 * 1) Mix the ingredients together in a bowl until it is a smooth clay.
 * 2) Flour a board or the counter, and knead the salt dough until it is smooth.
 * 3) Form whatever you want:
 * Roll out some dough and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. If you're making Christmas tree decorations, use a toothpick to make a little hole to put string through later.
 * Make little animals and / or people: you could make a zoo, or a farm, or a king/queen/prince/princess, etc.
 * 1) Place all of your creations on foil or parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
 * 2) Bake your clay sculptures in the oven at 200 degrees for one hour. If they are not hard (test by pushing on one), keep baking and check every half hour. Thin, rolled out shapes take about an hour, but larger shapes can take a few hours. Remove each sculpture as it's finished, but keep baking larger ones. Be patient!
 * 3) Paint your sculptures. Let the paint dry (maybe overnight) before playing with the sculptures.