Do you know…
… play dough made of salt?
Play dough is an inexpensive modelling material which is easy to make yourself. Children love it because they can have great fun making all sorts of figures.
Ingredients:
2 cups of wheat flour
1 cup of salt
1 cup of water
wallpaper paste can be added so it keeps better, or replace half of the flour with potato
starch.
You will also need a baking paper, rolling pin, pastry cutters, paints and string.
This is how it's done:
Put the flour and salt in a bowl, add warm water and knead vigorously until you obtain a firm,
smooth consistency.
If it's too sticky, you can add a little more flour.
Here's a simple idea for young children to try out: mould the play dough into a ball and roll it out to a thickness of about 1 cm. Then place it on a piece of baking paper and make an impression on it with your hand or foot. It's easy to do with your foot, but a bit trickier with your hand. Don't worry if it doesn't work perfectly first time, because you can simply knead the play dough again, roll it out and have another go! The next step is to pierce a hole with a pencil so that you will be able to hang up your finished impression. You can also write your name and the date using a toothpick.
Then dry the play dough in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes at 150°C (300°F, gas mark 2). The thicker the play dough, the longer it will need. Let your impression cool down before painting and varnishing it. You now have a perfect gift for mom and dad or for grandma and grandpa!
There is no end to the different things you can make with play dough.
Why not give it a try? Not only your children will have great fun!
