Live small, play big

Filed Under Tips & Tricks | February 27, 2008

feb27_playdough.jpg

Many of us in Vancouver are faced with the reality of living avec enfants in small(ish) spaces and it can be a struggle to keep those spaces both adult and kid-friendly. If you’re in that very situation and your family dines, works and plays at the same table, how do you keep it from getting sticky, glittery and battered?

We’re loving a tastefully patterned piece of oilcloth that we picked up for $15 at Rags & Dishes Outlet Store (4213 Main Street). Or go to your local hardware store and have them cut a piece of clear plastic to fit over table. You just lay it over your table cloth and instantly wipe away glue, paints, pasta sauce and wine. It also means when you have a grown up dinner soiree, you just remove the plastic and your tablecloth is perfectly pressed.

So now you feel more gung ho about doing crafts at your dining room table how about making your own play dough? We got this yummy smelling recipe from Sharon Selby, of Phonics Wizard, who’s very crafty:

You’ll need:

  • 2 ½ – 3 cups flour
  • 2 small (6 gram) packages unsweetened drink mix (ie. Koolaid)
  • ½ cup salt
  • 1 Tbsp alum powder (you’ll find it in the spice section at the grocery store)
  • 2 cups boiling waters
  • 3 Tbsp canola oil

Mix it up:

  1. Mix the dry ingredients (using 2.5 cups flour to start) together while boiling the water.
  2. Add the boiling water to the dry mixture, add oil, and mix with a fork until cool.
  3. Knead with hands, and sprinkle on extra flour if it’s sticky.
  4. Store in an airtight container in the fridge (old yogurt containers are great for this).

And if adding a square of oilcloth is as DYI as you get, you can always order organic playdough from Natural Pod.

 

2 Responses to “Live small, play big”

  1. informal fun | yoyomama on May 19th, 2009 1:16 am

    [...] Making homemade playdough Share and Enjoy: [...]

  2. She’s crafty… not. « Mamalegato’s Marathon on July 13th, 2009 7:30 am

    [...] Anyhoo… I have had, in the last couple of weeks, while trying to keep the kids entertained on summer vacation, a  2 tiny crafty victories with two projects. The first one is a great Play Dough recipe courtesy of Yoyo Mama- I have tried many different recipes in the past to limited success- they either go mouldy, dry up or just don’t have that right dough-like consistency.  This recipie by the way, is from Yoyo Mama’s website and credited to Sharon Selby who also is responsible for The Phonics Wizard a learn to read method that I have used with the 2 girls- to great success. See the recipe HERE [...]

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