Valentine's Play Dough 

This fun holiday play dough recipe lends itself to so many different invitations to play and learn; explore shapes and size, explore patterns and explore texture. Play dough is also great for developing hand strength for pre school children. 

 

It is soft, smooth and a fun activity to do with your little one. You can increase/decrease the intensity of the food colouring to create a range of shades. 

I set out some Valentine themed cutters, letters to print, sparkly pipe cleaners, a heart silicone mould and some heart sticks. The possibilities really are endless! Play dough is brilliant for imaginative play and it’s amazing to see where their imagination takes them! 

Z ended up “baking” mini heart muffins and topping them with pipe cleaners as candles, imprinting letters and sounding them out and explored size by cutting smaller hearts out of larger hearts. 

What do you need?

For the Play Dough:

2 cups flour

1 cup fine salt

2 tbsps cream of tartar

1/4 - 1/2 cup boiling water

Red food colouring

4 tbsp oil

OPTIONAL:

A few drops of glycerine

A shake of glitter

 

For the activity:

Heart cookie cutters

Pipe cleaners

Letters

Rolling pin

Playdough knife

Heart silicone tray 

 

Then... 

1. Combine the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the boiling water and food colouring.

3. Combine the wet and dry, stirring well and then add in the oil and glycerine.

4. Once cool, knead well until a dough forms. Add in the glitter and continue to knead. This may take a few minutes! If the dough is too sticky, add in some more flour or if it feels dry add in some more water.

5. The more you knead the firmer it will become.

6. Store in an airtight container or bag.