Homemade Playdough with EO's! Sensory awesomeness!

I may spend a bit too much time on Pinterest. LOL That being said, I decided to make play dough as favors for my daughter's rainbow unicorn themed birthday party. I didn't want to hand out little plastic toys that are easily lost or broken, or a bunch of candy. I was looking up ideas for rainbow themed favors, and most of them were either those, or more expensive items like paints and such.

Then, I saw this and I got very excited! YES! This is perfect!

So then I got to work researching playdough recipes. I stumbled across SO many different recipes and preparation methods. The first recipe I tried was WAY too sticky and didn't work. After some experimentation and tweaking, I came up with the BEST recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup salt

1/4 Cup citric acid (some recipes call for cream of tartar. I found citric acid makes a firmer, less sticky dough)

2 Cups unpacked, all purpose flour

2 Cups hot water

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (do NOT use coconut oil. bad mistake on my part!)

Optional:

Food color of your choosing

Using flavored teas instead of water for added color & scent

Add in 10-15 drops of essential oils for scent and added sensory experience

1. Place a large non-stick skillet on medium heat and let warm up while preparing your dough.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl (you will be mixing the color in the bowl later, so make sure to choose one that won't stain)
3. Put two cups HOT water from the tap (or tea)  in a measuring cup or bowl
4. Add the oil, and food coloring, to the water and mix well
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well
6. Making sure the pan is heated, pour the mixture into the pan. Stir slowly, continuously, until it is no longer a liquid and becomes a pretty solid dough 
7. Turn the dough onto a dinner plate or platter and let it sit to cool
8. Once the dough is cool, you will want to knead it for a few minutes to make sure there aren't any dry ingredients left unmixed, and to make the color and consistency more uniform. If you are using essential oils, add them to the dough and THEN knead it.

Each batch yielded approximately 2.5-3 pounds of dough. You are seeing 4oz plastic containers below. Each dough ball is between 3-4oz below, and the recipe will yield approx. 15. 

As I am making this for favors, I've obviously made a whole bunch. LOL My husband said our fridge looks like a science experiment. I put them in the fridge to store just to make sure they're totally fresh for her party. 

You want to make sure you store your dough in an air tight container like a freezer bag, or Tupperware, for example.

Mistakes I made that you should avoid:

1. Do NOT use coconut oil. You want to use vegetable oil.
2. Do NOT try to skip the cooking part and just use boiled water
3. Do NOT add the coloring to the dough after it's been cooked. DO add it to the water and then cook.