Make your own - Playdough (Play-Do)

Make your own playdough with existing ingredients you (may)already have in the kitchen. In my opinion they are better than store bought as you control the amount of chemical, colour and fragrant to it.

The kids can help too. There are other ways of making playdough without cooking, but for me cooking them seems to make the playdough much smoother and softer.


Basic ingredient ratios:
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar (optional for improved elasticity)
Others :
food coloring (liquid or powder)
Optional :
scented oils

Mix all of the ingredients together, and stir over low heat. The dough will begin to thicken until it resembles mashed potatoes.

When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center, as shown below, remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle.


IMPORTANT NOTE: if your playdough is still sticky, you simply need to cook it longer! Keep stirring and cooking until the dough is dry and feels like playdough.
Turn the dough out onto a clean counter or silicone mat, and knead vigorously until it becomes silky-smooth. Divide the dough into balls for coloring.

Make a hole in the center of the ball (it will look like a volcano), and drop some food coloring1 in. Fold the dough over, working the food color through the body of the playdough.

Work the dye through, adding more as necessary to achieve your chosen color. Store remains or extras in air tight container.


Have Fun!


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Kids and Craft

We do lots of crafts in our household, well I do with Harris for I believe not all toys should be purchased and husband would do the technical and mechanical bit, which I have none. Harris has a big box filled with crafts and he's so use to me making something, some days he ask for the most impossible at the oddest hour of the day.

Ive made handphones from Lipton Tea box, 20" caterpillar from magazines pages, building and Legos from small carton boxes, binoculars from kitchen rollers tube..etc. Im sharing a few cool ideas for you to try when you can find the time and scrapes material.


Little artists can be so prolific, creating paintings, drawings, and collages faster than you can figure out what to do with them. Rather than letting the works of art that don't make it onto a refrigerator door gather dust in a closet, a good solution is to label mailing tubes and fill with rolled-up stacks of artwork.

For the avid Readers, turn ribbon scraps into pretty and sturdy bookmarks.

Book with a twist, made from ordinary composition books, these personalized journals make great kids' crafts and thoughtful gifts -- especially when their covers are designed to inspire their contents. You might create a children's travel diary, a book of baby's firsts, or a baseball-statistics book for your favorite sport

Inspiring Young ReadersOn bus trips, during nikah/kenduri (prayers) ceremonies, or whenever silence is required, keep your child entertained with a homemade felt activity book. Here for instructions

Make some noise,this is our personal favourite. So easy too, empty cans become drums when turned upside down. Each size makes a different noise. You can achieve a cymbal-like sound by laying circles cut from foil pans over a can's opening.For drumsticks, use 10-inch-long wooden dowels and small balls. poke or drill (depending on the ball's density) a hole partway through each ball. Push dowel through and glue. For different tonal qualities, experiment with various balls

Seeing BubblesMake a giant bubble wand and a big batch of bubble solution with household items you probably already have.
1. Thread cotton twine through two straws (cut off any flexible section of the straws)and bend to make a rectangle as shown; knot and trim excess.
2. Make the bubble solution: Pour 10 cups water, 4 cups dishwashing soap, and 1 cup corn syrup into a shallow tub. Stir to combine.

The best part of all the above, is the bonding time and bringing the kids together irregardless of their age and sex to put the craft together. The big kids can cut or help gather the items while the small ones with their stubby fingers and not quite cordinated move can glue, stick and hold items in place. Have fun!

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