Snow-Dough Fun
What do you do when you’re trapped inside by an accumulation of 50 inches of snow and 40 mph winds? Why not try creating a rainbow of fun! With just a few ingredients you probably have on hand in your pantry, you can provide your children (and yourself) a few hours of cozy, indoor fun with homemade play dough.
Play Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. oil
1/2 cup salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. oil
1/2 cup salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
Cook over medium heat until mixture pulls away from sides of pan and becomes like play dough in consistency. Add food coloring (I use food coloring paste for extra bold colors), flavored extract (vanilla, lemon, orange, peppermint & almond are a few of our favorites), and/or glitter for sensory-play. Knead until cool. Keeps 3 months unrefrigerated; longer if refrigerated between play.
If you don’t live in the DC-Metropolitan area – where we have officially broken a record for snowfall set over a hundred years ago – perhaps you haven’t had enough snow yet this winter. If not, try making your own snow, with dough. The boys created this recipe our first winter in Virginia. They LOVED the snow and were sad that their friends in Florida couldn’t enjoy playing in the snow with them. Never easily deterred, the boys made their own snow and sent it to their warm-weather friends. It was an instant hit with the recipients who could now play in the snow without so much as a mitten!
To make Snow-Dough, use the above recipe to make a batch of playdough. Add peppermint extract, but no food coloring. Add silver glitter. Mix well and roll into small “snowballs.” If you want to send some of that snow to friends in warmer climates: roll the dough into “snowballs,” place it in a plastic ziploc bag, and make a bag topper by cutting a piece of construction paper to fold over the top of the bag.
Our snow-dough before we shipped it on to FL…
I had forgotten how little the boys were back then!
Hours of snowy-day fun AND snow that doesn’t require shoveling…
Now, that’s a FINER THING!
For more Finer Things visit Amy at The Finer Things in Life.