Salt Dough

A couple of Sundays ago, my kids found a big craft book in the playroom and decided they wanted to make crafts.

I might as well tell you right now that I am not one of those crafty moms that has a craft room or even a craft closet.  Crayons, markers and watercolors are about the extent of my craft supplies.

So we looked through the book and finally found something we could make with what we had on hand.  

Salt, flour, oil and water.  I can handle that.

Emery made a caterpillar and a bowl.  Then one of the boys broke the caterpillar.

Walker made a bowl and a bowling ball.

Wyatt made a chocolate chip cookie, a bowl, and a ball for his tiny bowl.  Tucker wasn't into the project and gave his dough to Wyatt.  He must have gotten my craft genes.

Salt dough:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups salt
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/4 cup water

*Mix the flour, salt, oil and water into a soft dough.  You will need to add a little more water as you mix it up.  Knead the dough on a flat surface until it is smooth and stretchy.  Then model the dough into any shapes you want.  Put all your dough shapes on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350.  Let cool completely and then paint them in fun colors.  We used some poster paint that Emery had from her birthday.  I think any kind of paint would work fine.

Homemade Play dough

I'm not a big fan of store-bought play dough. I don't like the way it smells. So when we had an "I'm so bored" Summer moment the other day, I decided to try my hand at making some. Super easy and not super smelly.
2 cups flour
2 cups water
1 cup salt
2 Tbs. oil
4 tsp. cream of tartar
*Cook on stove, stirring constantly, until it adheres together like dough. Dump onto a cutting board and knead. Cover and cool in refrigerator for a few minutes before letting kids play with it. You can also add food coloring if you want different colors. Stores well in the fridge if covered.