stuff to do with toddlers: homemade orange scented edible play dough

tuesday we went over to jonah's friend jackson's house to play. lara and i were talking the week before about how we should try to do some educational stuff with the boys when we get together. so i started looking for some craft projects. i found tons of crafts for kids, but i really had to search for stuff to do with toddlers. so i decided i'm going to keep track of some of the fun stuff we find to do with the boys in hopes that it will give other mama's some good ideas for (inexpensive and easy) stuff to do with their crazy toddlers.

so here's the first official installment of my new themed posts: stuff to do with toddlers.

when i read the intro to this project i knew it was for us...

"If your children are at the age of preferring to eat their art supplies while you are trying to teach them to expand their creative skills, you'll enjoy these perfect projects!"

Kool-Aid Play Dough (recipe from familycorner.com)

* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 cup salt
* 3 teaspoons Cream of Tartar (i forgot the cream of tartar so we used baking powder and it seemed to work fine)
* 1 package Kool-Aid Mix (any flavor of unsweetened)
* 1 tablespoon cooking oil

Mix dry ingredients together in a large saucepan. Slowly add water mixed with oil and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens to dough. Turn out onto a heatproof bread board or counter top and knead until cool enough for children to handle. Dough will be the color of the Kool-Aid mix and will smell like the Kool-Aid mix. (Can be stored in a tightly covered container for up to six months).

cost: less than $1 if you have most of these ingredients in your pantry
prep time: 5 minutes to gather ingredients
cook time: less than 5 minutes to prepare; 5 minutes to cool
play time: 30 to 60 minutes (depending on attention span)


and now for the photos...

i think jonah had more fun with lara's wheely cutter than with the actual play dough.

jackson started out with the potato masher... sweet!

jonah did decide to give it a taste (of course!) it's probably my own fault giving him orange play dough shaped like a carrot.

we pulled the play dough apart, rolled it into balls, cut out circles with baby bottle lids, rolled it into snake shapes... it was a good 45 minutes of fun at least! look at that concentration...

we wondered before we started if the kool-aid would rub off and stain clothes or hands. it didn't, so that was great!

so that's about it. the cost was minimal. lara had everything in her kitchen except for the unsweetened kool-aid packets. it didn't take long to get ready and it kept the boys occupied until lunch time. i definitely give this project 5 stars!


i'm playing along with works for me wednesdays over at rocks in my dryer. check it out!