Day 190

Last night, after vowing not to do anything all day, I decided it was time to do something organized with E and J, before a) they killed each other or b) the tv rotted their brains out. Sooooo we made one of my favorite things to make: Play-dough!  I love this recipe...and have been using it since college, when I made play-dough with my internship and practicum kiddos. It isn't as easy as the no-cook kind, and involves needing a stove or hot plate...but it is well worth it. The dough comes out soft, not sticky and lasts a long time in a ziplock.
Here's what you need:
1cup flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
2Tbsp Cream of Tartar
1Tbsp vegetable oil
Food Coloring- I had regular and neon...so of course we chose neon for play-dough!
and at least 1 kiddo to help you stir :)

 Mix all the ingredients in no particular order

 stir stir stir

 cook over medium heat until it gets really clumpy (do not stop stirring)

 it will eventually clump into one big clump...this is when you take it out (Jack did NOT want purple, so we had to make another batch of green)

 when you take the big ball out, you need to knead it a few mins before they play with it. It is really warm and squishy so best for grown up hands or big kid hands to do

 This fun stuff lasted almost all the way to until bedtime!  Which has been ENTIRELY too late for them lately. I have vowed not to get too far off of our normal schedule so that it isn't you-know-what when school starts back to get them in bed by 8 and up by 6.  ---shudders---let's not talk about that nonsense for a few more weeks,  please!