Playing with play dough is one of the ways recommended
to help kids develop their fine motor skill and hand-eye coordination, which is an important element
in learning to write. I learned about this fact from my son's school, in
the notes slipped in his folder, suggesting the ideas for developing fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination.
We can easily purchase ready made play dough from toy shops or alternatively make it by ourselves.
I have tried making play dough using the recipe below once...(I cannot remember exactly when, but it was somewhere last year). It turned out so well. Today, I am making it again for my kids.
Play dough recipe
Source: The Imagination Tree
Ingredients:
- 2 cups plain flour (all purpose)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup salt
- 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
- Up to 1.5 cups boiling water (adding in increments until it feels just right) - in my case, 1 cup of water turned out perfect
- food colouring (optional) - I used gel food colouring
- few drops glycerine (optional- adds more shine!) - I didn't put
Method:
- Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl
- Add the boiling water
- Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky, combined dough
- Add the food colouring and glycerine (both optional)
- Allow it to cool down then take it out of the bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. * This is the most important part of the process, so keep at it until it’s the perfect consistency!*
- (If it remains a little sticky then add a touch more flour until just right)
It is time to play, play and play!
