How to Make Inexpensive Playdough at Home

This is a quick, cheap, and easy activity to keep the little ones busy on a rainy day. If you don't have "real" playdough, just make it.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 2c flour
• 1c salt
• 2c warm water
• 2T vegetable oil
• stove
• stirring utensil
• 1T cream of tartar (optional)
• food coloring (optional)

1. 

   Mix 2 cups flour, 2 cups warm water, 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon cream of tartar in a saucepan on low heat.

2. 

   Stir until dough is no longer sticky (took us about 12 minutes) -- be patient, keep stirring!

3. 

   Take dough out of saucepan and knead on a cutting board or counter top. Add in food coloring a few drops at a time by folding dough over itself many times. You can divide the dough into 4 and make one ball in each color, or you can mix two colors like (red and blue) to make purple.

4. Store in airtight container. It usually lasts at least a month. If it starts to dry out, you can add a few teaspoons water or a tablespoon vegetable oil and knead dough again. Since it only costs a few cents to make, you can always just throw it away and start over. :)