CRAFT RECIPES
PLAYDOUGH AND CLAY
The following is the favorite recipe for playdough among the dozens I have found online. It seems to have the best consistency and keeps for a long time.
1C. Flour
1/2 C. salt
2 T. cream of tarter
1 C. water
1 T. vegetable oil
5 to 6 drops food coloring, your choice
Mix together and heat over medium heat. Stir until ball forms. Let cool and knead till smooth. The secret to a successful playdough is in the kneading. The more you knead it until it is nice and smooth the better it will be.
Another way is to make white playdough, Then put some in a baggie, let children choose a color, place the food coloring in the bag, close and they knead the color into the dough
Kool-Aid Playdough
2 c All-purpose
flour
1/2 c Salt
2 pk Unsweetened Kool-Aid any flavor
4 ts Cream of tartar
2 c Water
2 tb Corn oil
Mix all the ingredients together in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until the mixture thickens and the bottom is just starting to crust up, about 15 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and hard at this point. Turn the dough out onto a large cookie sheet and let it cool. When cool, knead until smooth. Store in a covered container.
Play Clay
1 cup cornstarch
2 cups baking soda
1 1/4 cups water
Combine cornstarch and baking soda thoroughly in a saucepan. Mix in water. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches a moist, mashed-potato consistency. Remove immediately from heat. Turn out on a plate and cover with a damp cloth until cool. When easy to handle, knead like dough. Shape as desired and store in a tightly closed plastic bag for later use.
Note: For solid colored play clay, add a few drops of food coloring or tempera paint powder to water before it is mixed in with starch and soda. Objects may be left white or painted when dry. (GREAT for Christmas ornaments)
Uncooked Playdough
3 cups flour
1/4 cups salt
1 cup water
1 tbsp oil
coloring
Mix flour with salt; add water with coloring and oil gradually. Add more water iftoo stiff, add more flour if too sticky. Let the children help with the mixing and measuring. Keep dough stored in plastic bags or a covered container
Clay
1 c Water
1/2 c Flour
1 c Salt
Food coloring (optional)
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Add food coloring if desired. Stir over low heat. When thick & rubbery remove from heat. Spoon part of clay onto a floured sheet of waxed paper and roll out. Cut out or model objects. Air dry objects for a few days. Store covered dough in an airtight container to prevent drying.
Clay Variation
1 c Salt
1 1/2 c Flour
1/2 c Water
2 tb Oil
Food coloring
Mix the oil and food coloring into the water. Add the salt and flour. Mix all together, then knead to get out the lumps. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.
Sand Clay
2 cups sand
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. Alum
1-1/2 cups Water
Mix ingredients in saucepan. Stir constantly while cooking over medium heat. Remove from heat when mixture thickens and becomes hard to stir. Cool 10 - 15 minutes. (Tips- Air dry for several days to produce hard, stone-like sculptures. Store left over clay in air-tight container. For color try adding food coloring or colored sand. To produce lightly colored projects, use fine white sand. Paint with watercolors.)
No Bake Cinnamon Shapes
1 cup ground
Cinnamon
1/2 cup Applesauce
1/4 cup White School Glue
Blend cinnamon, glue and applesauce in mixing bowl. Stir until a stiff dough forms. Roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Air-dry several days on a wire rack, turning accasionally. (Remind children this dough is not meant to be eaten. To make sweet smelling holiday ornaments, poke a hole at the top of the shape with a drinking straw.)
Clean Mud
warm water (warm
enough to melt soap)
1 bar dove soap
1 roll white toilet paper
Have the children tear up the toilet paper into little bits (the smaller thebetter). Using a cheese grater, grate the bar of soap into a big bowl. Add the torn up toilet paper to the bowl. Add the warm water a little bit at a time while mixing the toilet paper and the soap together. You have added enough water when the mixture begins to feel like a thick cool whip. Do not make the mixture soupy. The more you play with it the fluffier it becomes.
BUBBLES, PUTTY, AND SLIME
Bubble Blowing Mixture
6 c Water
2 c Crystal Octagon dishwashing liquid
3/4 c Light corn syrup
Mix all the ingredients together in a dishpan. Put in a jar and give it to your kids. It should be used right away.
Tried & True Bubble Soap
1 gallon Water (use
distilled if your water is hard)
1 cup Joy or Dawn liquid dishwashing soap
1/8 cup Glycerin
Fill bucket or container with water. Add liquid soap and glycerin. Stir gently with hand or mixing spoon. Use bubble tools to blow bubbles. (plastic holders from six-packs of pop make great bubble tools!)
Cornstarch Slime
Cornstarch makes a classic, sticky, messy slime. There are only 2 ingredients, dry cornstarch and water (food coloring optional). The lines are very thin between dry cornstarch, slime, and cloudy white starch water, so mix slowly and add the water only a little at a time. Start with 2 parts cornstarch in a bowl (now is the time to add the food coloring). Slowly, add 1 part water, mixing with your hands (there really is no other way) to get all of the powder wet. Have another measure of water handy, and drop in a little at a time, mixing as you go. It will take much less water than you might think to change the consistency much, so add only a few drops at a time. You will know when it is the right amount, as the wet powder will stick together and suddenly start behaving very oddly. This slime has some of the weirdest properties. It will "melt" between your fingers and your fingers will sink into it readily, but just try and punch it!
Slime
2 c White glue
(Elmer's)
1 1/2 c Water
Food coloring of choice
1 ts Borax
1/2 c Water
Mix the glue, 1 1/2 c water and food color until it's not sticky. Separately dissolve the borax and 1/2 c water. Add to the glue solution. You will get a very thick clump of Slime where the two mix. Now you must work in the rest of the solution. With clean hands, knead the Slime to get it to mix. This will take about 10 minutes or so, and is not very difficult as the Slime easily separates between your fingers. If you desire a looser, more slimy texture, add a bit more water and knead it in. The more slimy this is, though, the more apt it is to get stuck in any fabric it comes in contact with.
Silly Putty 1
2 c White
all-purpose glue
1 c Liquid starch
WARNING: Non-Edible
Mix together well. Set on trays for play, or use waxed paper. Can be used as the commercial Silly Putty is. Store in an airtight container.
Silly Putty 2
1/4 cup Elmers Glue
1/4 cup Liquid Starch
Mix in bowl with fingers and roll into a ball. Knead until a rubber consistency. This is fun to make for kids of all ages...
Flubber recipe
Solution A: 1 1/2
C. Warm Water, 2 c. Elmers Glue, Food Coloring
Solution B: 4 tsp. Borax, 1-1/3 C. Warm water
Mix solution A in one bowl, mix solution B in another bowl. Dissolve both well.
Then just pour solution A into solution B, DO NOT MIX OR STIR! Just lift out
flubber. It's neater than "Gak" or "slime". And it also a safe
chemical reaction for the kids to see. Use a glass bowl for solution B so the
kids can see the flubber form in the bowl. It just becomes a big
"cloud" of rubbery stuff. Store in baggies. If you half the recipe,
you only need to half the solution A and it will work the same.
PAINTS
Puff Paint
1 cup white flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
tempera paint
plastic squeeze bottle
In a small mixing bowl, stir together flour, salt, and water. Add several teaspoons of tempera paint. Stir. Pour into a clean honey bear or other plastic squeeze bottle. (This is where your recycling really pays off) On a newspaper covered work surface, squeeze paint on to paper. Add glitter while the paint is still wet to add some sparkle. Do not use the paint on fabric. For best results use the paint up with in two or three days. THE PAINT WILL PUFF UP WHEN DRY.
Argo Starch Finger Paint
1/2 cup boiling
water
2 tbsp. Argo starch
6 tbsp cold water
Dissolve starch in cold water in cup. Add this mixture to boiling water, stirring constantly. Heat until it becomes glossy. Add color.
Plastic Starch Finger Paint
Liquid plastic
starch
Powder paint in salt shakers
Spread liquid starch over dry paper. Shake powder paint on paper and spread with hands.
Tempera Finger Paint
Dry tempera paint
1/2 cup liquid starch
1/2 cup liquid dishwashing detergent
Mix the tempera paint with the starch or detergent, adding starch gradually until desired thickness is reached. Paint extender can also be added to dry tempera paint.
Finger Paint
1/3 C. cornstarch
3 Tbs. Sugar
2 C. cold water
Food color
Mix cornstarch, sugar and water in 1-quart saucepan. Cook and stir over med. heat about 5 min. or until thickened; remove from heat. Divide mixture into separate cups. Tint each with a different color. Stir several times until cool. Store in an airtight container. Tip: Works best if you use it the same day you make it.
Finger Painting Goop
1-1/4 cups hot Tap
Water
2/3 cups Instant Mashed Potatoes
1 tsp Powdered Tempera Paint
In a small bowl, mix instant potatoes into hot tap water. Add powdered tempera; mix well until paint is smooth. (Keeps for 1 week in tightly covered container. For a more slippery mixture, add 1/2 cup Liquid Starch after you have mixed all of the other ingredients together. Encourage children to put paint on different surfaces and types of paper. Try tiles, aluminim foil, old fabric, cellophane wrap, etc.)
Clown Paint
1/8 C. Baby Lotion
1/4 Tsp Powdered Tempera paint
1 Squirt liquid Dishwashing Soap
Mix and use. Easily removed by soap and water *Note: test on skin first for any possible reactions.
Sparkle paints
Empty squeezable
bottles
Flour
Salt
water
tempera paint
paper
Mix equal parts of flour, water and salt. Pour some of the mixture in each squeeze bottle. Add tempera paint to each bottle and shake well.
Squeeze the paint onto paper, creating a design, word or picture.let Dry. When the paint is dry, the salt makes the picture sparkle.if you like, you can brush the paints on instead of squeezing them.
Homemade Crayons
Remove paper from old crayons and crayon bits. Line muffin tins with paper liners (large or small). Put a few (5 - 8) crayon pieces in each cup. You can mix or match the colors. Bake at 200-225 degrees for about 5 min. until crayons are just melted. Remove and let cool. Remove paper and you will have "new" big round crayons.
Note: If you use too many crayons in the liner they won't melt properly, so don't overdo it. Yet, if you use too few they will be thin and will break when the kids apply pressure.
Sparkle Bottle
Metallic glitter is magically suspended in plastic soda bottles, creating a rainbow of swirling colors.
Small clear plastic
soda bottle with a cap
Light corn syrup
Assorted shapes of metallic confetti (found in gift and card shops)
Cold water
Fill soda bottle 3/4 of the way with corn syrup. Add a small handful of metallic confetti. Top the bottle off with water. Seal the bottle securely with a cap and shake.
Concoctions Tips & Ideas:
Add a few drops of food coloring to your Sparkle Bottle for added interest.Create Sparkle Wands by using a 1-inch diameter clear plastic aquarium lift tube (found in pet supply stores) and two 1-inch plastic chair leg caps (found in hardware stores). Secure a plastic chair leg cap on one end of the lift tube with a hot glue gun. Fill the tube with corn syrup, glitter, and cold water. Glue the remaining chair leg cap on the other end of the tube and shake.
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