There are so many kinds of playdough out there, how do you choose which one to make? I decided that I would go on a mission to make every playdough recipe I can find, and I started with Calming Playdough.
When I read about it, it seemed too good to be true. Playdough to me means dry skin, salt, and a substance that I love to play with a little too much for it to be considered anything less than obsessive.
Here's what you'll need:
- 6 TBSP oil
- 5 cups flour
- 3 TBSP powdered alum(It sounds really scientific, but you can get it in the spice aisle)
- 3/4 cups salt
- 3 cups of water
- 1 cup of any brand or scent of lotion(this is where it gets fun, I chose a natural melon lotion)
- 1/4 cup liquid water color
Here's what you'll do:
Mix everything together, then heat on medium stirring constantly until your goop has become a doughy ball. Don't get all hung up on the word ball, it pretty much means that you need to stir it until you think your arm might fall off because it's really, really thick. My advice is to use a super sturdy wooden scraper or spoon to do this. Really sturdy.
Dump it out somewhere and let it cool before you use it, unless you can withstand the sensation of hot lava playdough.
It really is calming, and it smells amazing. My class couldn't stop touching it...and neither could I, but instead of that gritty salt feeling playdough usually leaves me with, my hands were super soft and felt smelled amazing.
Then came the test. I have one super hyper rubber bouncy ball of a boy, and nothing keeps his attention for very long if it isn't in a super hero suit. I sat him down in front of this melon scented ball of dough, and he was at the table playing with it for 43 minutes. That was an epic feat. Imagine if I used lavender lotion.
I can already tell that this is going to be one of our favorites, and I would bet it will be one of yours too!
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