NEW play dough recipe!

you guys...i'm pretty sure i have been doing it all wrong, until now.  well...it's a big deal when making play dough, do you have a cook or no cook recipe???  i have always used a no cook recipe and it makes good play dough, BUT...i tried the recipe from meri cherry's "play, make, create" book and i will never look back.  i always thought the extra step of cooking the dough was not necessary, but it is and the ratios are very different and it leads to a much softer and squishier dough.  so here it is straight out of the book:

ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/3 cup salt
2 t cream of tarter
1 T oil
1 cup of hot water with food coloring (i used liquid watercolor for a more vibrant color)

mix all ingredients together in a bowl and then transfer into a non-stick pan and stir until the dough comes together (takes a couple of minutes).  knead and play!

if you really want to jazz it up, you can add glitter or essential oils to the dough!

if you are wondering if it is worth the time/effort to make your own, YES YES YES!!!  my play dough has always lasted 6 + months.  and as i was putting our new play dough away, bowie was going through our store bought "play-doh" brand colors.  she was opening up the containers and squeezed the dough and said "mom, this is hard, it is no good," and threw it out.  the play-doh stuff was not bad, but the home made stuff is so superior in texture that it puts the store bought stuff to shame. 

***as i mentioned i used liquid watercolors to color my dough, but this makes the play dough no longer taste safe.  so for littles who are mouthing, you should stick with food coloring or no coloring at all.  bowie most often requests white play dough!***