Play dough, cake and building dens

Images: Kim Love

Hands up who experimentally nibbled on play dough when they were a kid?

Come on, 'fess up. You probably had some of thisstuff: Play-Doh, the most famous incarnation of this squishy, attractive-smelling splat of moulding material. Your parents probably let you run riot with it - and they were right to, because it's completely harmless when eaten. Play dough is nothing but salt and flour held together with water and a squirt of funky food colouring. That's pretty much it. And just as you were safely left alone with it, so you can leave your kids alone with it. And as you can probably remember, it also tastes pretty awful, so even if your young'uns take an experimental bite, they're unlikely to take a second one. 

So, with ingredients as simple and natural as those, what's to stop you making your own at home? Absolutely nothing, of course. But it must be tricky to make, right? Nada. It's super-easy. Ready to find out just how super-easy? (Trust me, you'll laugh).

Read on!

Images: wonderyort

The Basic Ingredients

1 cup of organic flour (like thisone)

1 cup of water

1 tablespoonful of oil

Half a cup of salt

The Fancy Ingredients

1 tablespoonful of Potassium Bitartrate - better known as CreamOf Tartar

Some natural food colouring, using vegetable juice: beetroot for red, carrot for orange, spinach for green, and...well, you tell us. Go experiment!

Mr A having some play dough fun this week.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix the dry ingredients in an appropriately-sized pot.

2. Add the oil & water and fold into the dry ingredients.

3. Put the mixture on a low heat and stir continually until you achieve the right doughy consistency and the mixture is mainly forming a ball in the centre rather than sticking to the sides (this should take 5-10 minutes).

4. Add your food colouring.

5. Spoon out the dough and allow to cool until you can hold it in the palm of your hand.

6. Knead that dough!

7. Congratulations - your newly-born lump of play dough is good to go for the next 6 months, as long as you store in something airtight.

Yes, really, that's the whole process. Crazy, no? You have our blessing to go completely nuts and make tons of it.

Other Fun things we have been up to this week

Despite it being a busy week with work, going to London, Johns birthday and one thing or another we still always make time for the little man as it's our main priority.

We started the week with making den's around the house - even at my age I love a good den, we sat and read books and put all his little tractors inside and made a "tent farm"

We also cooked up a little carrot cake for Johns birthday, it's always lovely to spend time in the kitchen with the little man and even though the cake was not the prettiest it was super yummy, moist and made with low sugar and wholemeal flour but didn't sacrifice on the taste. The two boys pretty much demolished it before I could get a look in.

Even though this post contains links it is NOT a sponsored post, I am simply sharing my loves with you.