The Wonders of Play Clay!

I was invited by the one of the owners of Earth Mart to do a series of lectures on Sustainable Family Living at the store. The series was not well marketed and attendance has been.....well....less than ideal. In any event, I've had time to shop around the store. During my last trip I picked up some Play Clay in the Cherry Berry scent. I was assured that it didn't taste good despite the delicious fruity scents.


The next night right before I attempted to cook dinner (always a challenging hour in our household) I pulled the Learning Tower over to the end of the counter top, threw on our trusty smock and let Soph explore with the clay. She played for over an hour and a half with the miracle toy. She, of course, started with a little taste and then decided that it was more fun to smoosh it between her fingers. It has been a lot of fun.

A small warning. The smell can be a bit overpowering. It is far more pleasant than the traditional PlayDough, but on a day when I had a headache the scent of the Cherry Berry Clay exaserbated my brain pain. If you have family members that are sensitive to scent or susceptable to headache or nausea, I'd stick with the home made stuff.

Here is a recipe:

Kid Friendly Play Dough

• 1 cup flour (not self-rising)
  
• 1/2 cup salt
  
• 1 cup water
  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  

Mix in saucepan over low heat. It does not have to heat very long.

Dough is ready when it rolls into a ball.

Keep dough fresh in an airtight container.

If you need to make different colors, add food coloring while mixing over heat.

I haven't tried it, but I suspect that you could add a few drops of essential oils to the mixture in place of a few drops of the vegetable oil if you were interested in having scented dough.