Homemade play dough

No.. this is not pau pau (he thought it's his bun). It's P.L.A.Y D.O.U.G.H. I had to constantly remind him of that. He repeats after me. Then unconsciously, he torn a piece and tried to eat it. I reminded him again, No, this is not your mom mom (food), it's PLAY DOUGH. 'Play dough' he repeated after me and put it away from his mouth. Phew... so I guess he's alright to play with play dough now (at 19month old) but just need to be reminded that it's not food. Anyways, he did had a bite on it, and quickly puked it out, cos it taste sooo salty, so rest assured, your kid won't really swallow it. It doesn't taste edible.

Play dough is a great sensory activities for toddlers. Homemade play dough is good. It's safe. It's so salty, even if the little one tried to eat it, he won't really swallow it. It's too salty to be edible. It's non-irritating even to sensitive skin. It is cheap and easy to make. Like the commercial play dough, it keeps a long time.



You'll need:

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2tbsp of virgin coconut oil or olive oil
• 1/2 cup salt (I used Himalaya pink rock salt)
• 2tbsp cream of tartar (available from most bakery ingredient shop)
• 1 1/2 cup boiling water (or less, add slowly until you get the right consistency, I think I used about 1 cup of boiling water) 
• 5 drops of Eucalyptus essential oil (optional, see notes)
• Food coloring (I added about 4 drops of red food coloring to half of this dough)

1. Combine together salt, flour, cream of tartar and oil in a big bowl.
2. Add boiling water and keep stirring until it resembles a blob of dough. Drop in essential oil or food coloring. Knead until it turns into the texture of play dough.

Notes:
*Eucalyptus oil is a great decongestants. When the weather is extreme (super hot or rainy) or when travelling, or at the season when flu bugs are everywhere, I would drop a couple drops of Eucalyptus oil into the lil' fella's bath water to keep the germs at bay.
**Keep the play dough in a Ziploc bag or in an air tight container after play. It keeps for at least 3-6months.