Winter Day Play Dough
by Teresa Van Liew

Cold hands and rosy cheeks are a natural part of childhood winters and no kid (or kid at heart!) wants to spend even one winter without them. Eventually though, they’ll have to come in out of the cold, and this warm home-made play dough is the perfect thing to warm their hands and their hearts and to feed their imagination and creativity.

Cook this mixture on top of your stove and seal it up in a zipper storage or freezer bag. Kids can use the bag to stand on; they can sit on it and mold it to the top of their heads! They’ll have fun exploring the warm bag. All the while, we adults will know that hands-on active learning through an artistic medium develops mental skills that are not developed by other disciplines.

Recipe:
1 cup tap water
1 cup white flour
½ cup table salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar (spice isle)
2 T. vegetable oil
5-10 drops food color

Mix all ingredients in a deep frying pan lightly sprayed with a non stick vegetable oil cooking spray. Cook, stirring almost constantly over medium heat. Mixture will begin to form lumps. Continue to stir until it forms into one lump of firm consistency dough. Place the dough into a zipper bag and seal. Allow to cool enough to handle comfortably and test the temperature before allowing kids to explore. The recipe easily doubles.

Supply a few items for children to use with their dough as building or creating tools. Things for sticking, smashing, rolling, pinching, poking, etc. Provide age appropriate disposable items such as coffee stir sticks, cotton swabs, paper clips, drinking straws, plastic forks and spoons, paper cups, empty toilet tissue and paper towel rolls, pinecones, rocks, pine sprigs, or anything else that the imagination can use as a play thing for exploratory tactile learning opportunities. Also consider kitchen items such as cookie cutters, rolling pins, measuring spoon sets, etc. When thinking of items to supply as tools, walk thru the room with a Childs eye view and recall pretend play from when you were a youngster. You’ll suddenly see lots of opportunities for a fun and creative experience. Supply a few items at a time so as not to overwhelm the younger children. Older children will enjoy a larger variety of tools. Allow the child some time exploring the dough in its own wonderfully squishy form before introducing the additional items. Manipulating the dough alone can spark an idea that they can carry over to their tool time play.

This winter play dough will last for several days if properly sealed in a zipper bag, however, do not attempt to reheat the dough. 
On the final day of play consider adding a few drops of a contrasting color of food coloring to the bag and allow the child to knead the bag and experience the blending of colors. Consider adding several containers of dry items such as rice, beans and pasta shapes to your art time. Allow the child to explore and play! During this type of free playtime within the art project children learn to respect their instincts, value their own opinions and see things in a creative light. Art enables students to express their own creativity and to experience the joy of personal accomplishment and satisfaction… all values that they will carry with them into other areas of their life helping to build a firm foundation.

“Tell me about your creation.” 
Ask the child to tell you about his/her art. What was he thinking when he was working on it? How does it feel to look at it now? What would he like to tell you about the process? Etc. Make positive comments on the time he spent working and the feelings he has for what he made, and how it makes you feel or what it makes you think of.

The personal expression gives value to the child’s art and is wonderful for self confidence and self growth. Having others appreciate the art is not the goal… having the child appreciate his own capabilities in creativity and valuing his own perception is the goal. Allow him to discover for himself. 

You know your child or your student best. Allow them to help with the recipe where they can, and only provide items for exploration that are age appropriate. As always when playing with any re-useable dough, wash hands thoroughly before and after each use. Dispose of dough and dry goods after the final play as bacteria can grow on dampened beans and pasta. 

Enjoy!