Fun with homemade playdough

Recently I read Room by Emma Donoghue. I was blown away by it for many reasons. One of the aspects of the book that stayed with me afterwards is the fantastic job that “Ma” did in ensuring that her little boy was stimulated and kept learning and developing through the whole confinement. It made me reflect on how quick we can be to head for the shops to look for gadgets and toys for Little Man when we think he needs something new to do. I often forget how much we can do with what we have at home. So, I decided to make playdough for Little Man.

I searched online and discovered that there is a multitude of playdough recipes available. Some require cooking, some don’t, some use flour, some don’t, some last, some don’t! I thought I’d start with a basic recipe, similar to one I vaguely remember my own mother using when we were kids.

Homemade Playdough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vegetable oil
Splash of food colouring

I was really impressed with how it turned out. Check it out:

My first attempt at making playdough

Of course, looking at it is no good. There’s only one real way to test playdough! So I got down on the floor with Little Man and we tested it out.

I think I like it!

It’s a little crumblier than I would have liked, but Little Man didn’t seem to mind. It was still perfect for making long squiggly snakes, and rolling balls, and flattening it out and cutting shapes using cookie cutters. I think I might have used too much food colouring in it though – we both had blue hands by the time we were done playing. When we were finished, I wrapped the playdough in cling film to stop it from drying out. I’m hopeful it will last a while like that.

Next time around I might try one of the recipes that you have to cook. From the brief reviews I read online, it seems that they last better, and they are more rubbery rather than crumbly. I’ll let you know how we get on!