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Please note: some of these recipes require the use of a stove or use chemicals such as starch or soap--please use extreme caution when preparing these recipes and doing the crafts. If your child gets art supplies in his eyes or swallows something he shouldn't, Be sure your child washes his hands after using crafting or painting materials. Even something as harmless as play dough or bubble solution will irritate the skin if left in contact for extended periods of time. |
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| Clays and Doughs
Play Dough #1 1 cup of flour Mix all of theingredients in a pan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until it pulls away from the pan and a ball forms. Allow to cool on a covered plate. Knead smooth.
Play Dough #2
2 1/2 cups flour Combine flour, alum, salt, kool-aid. Add oil and boiling water. Stir or knead to mix. |
Play Dough #3
2 cups flour Knead until smooth. Put into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Store in an air-tight bowl. Play Dough #4 1 cup of flour Mix all ingredients except glitter. Mix all ingredients in pot together and heat, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. Remove from pot and add glitter. Knead until smooth. The play dough will be good for several weeks stored at room temperature in a tightly sealed container. Do not refrigerate. |
 Quick and Easy Modeling Dough 3/4 cup of flour 1/2 cup of salt 1 1/2 teaspoon powdered alum 1 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil 1/2 cup of boiling water Food coloring First, mix flour,salt and alum in a mixing bowl. Next, add vegetable oil and boiling water. Stir vigorously with a spoon until well blended. Do this until dough no longer sticks to side of bowl and is cool enough to handle. Add food coloring. Knead into dough until color is blended to make desired tint. Makes about 1 cup--double or triple recipe for more dough. Store in an air tight container, jar, or zip bag. Dough will keep several months without refrigeration. Baking Soda Clay 1 cup of cornstarch Combine bakingsoda and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Stir in water and cook over low heat until the mix begins to thicken and form a ball. Remove from heat. Dust the counter top lightly with cornstarch and turn the clay out of the saucepan. When cool enough to handle, knead the clay until smooth. Store clay in an air-tight container. Clay is ready for use when cooled. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Use to make shapes with cookie cutters or form small sculptures. Air dry over several days or bake in oven at 300 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Decorate with poster paints or markers.
Dinosaur Egg Clay 1 cup of flour Mix ingredients together. Shape into a ball and place thumb in center to form ahole. Place a treasure inside the hole and cover it up. Let it dry 4 to 5 days. This idea may be used to resemble a rock or a pumice stone. It can also be used to form a dinosaur egg with a dinosaur placed inside. Let the child crack the egg and be amazed to find a dinosaur inside. |
Chocolate Play Dough--smells great/tastes terrible DO NOT EAT! 1 1/4 cups flour Mix flour, cocoa powder, salt and cream oftartar. Add cooking oil and boiling water. Stir quickly and mix well. Cook over low heat until the dough forms a ball. When cool, mix with your hands. Store in an air-tight container.
Cloud Dough 6 cups of flour Mix flour with the desired amount of tempra paint in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups oil and 1cup of water. Knead well. You may need to add more water in small amounts until the dough becomes soft and fluffy. If the dough becomes sticky, you may add more flour. "Snow" Dough 1 cup flour Mix together everything, except for the glitter, in a pan. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until dough thickens and pulls away from pan. Remove from pan. knead until smooth. Knead in the glitter until the dough sparkles like snow. Clean Mud 1 bar of dove soap Let the child tear up the toilet paper into little bits (smaller the better). Use a cheese grater to grate the bar of soap into a large bowl. Add the torn uptoilet paper to the bowl. Add warm water a little at a time while mixingthe soap/paper mixture. Enough warm water has been added when the mixture begins to feel like a thick cool whip. Do not make it soupy. It becomes fluffier the more played with. |
| Silly Science
Flubber Solution 1: 1 1/2 cup warm water Solution 2: 4 tsp of Borax Mix solution 1 in one bowl and solution 2 in another bowl. Make sure both are dissolved. Pour Solution 1 into Solution 2. Do not mix or stir!!! Lift out flubber. This is a safe chemical reaction for kidsto observe. It is better to use clear containers to mix this in so that the kids can watch the change. Store in airtight containers or zip bags. Goop 1 cup of liquid starch Mix all of the ingredients together until it forms a ball. If it is sticky, add a coupleof drops of liquid starch. The mix will become very stringy until it is mixed well. |
When you are through experimenting, discard all of these mixtures in the garbage, not the sink! Oooblech 1 part corn starch Mix. Add color. Sometimes this mixture acts like a liquid and sometimes it's a solid. Very fun to play with, but don't dispose of it in the sink--it will gunk up your pipes!
Silly Putty 1/2 cup of Elmer’s white glue (Use only Elmer's glue!!!!) Slowly add starch to glue and knead with fingers. Add food coloring if desired. The more you knead and work with it, the more it jells.
Snot 2 parts white Elmer's glue Mix these ingredients well
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Pretty Paints Puffy Paint
flour Mix equal amounts of flour, salt and water. Add liquid tempera paint for the color. Pour mixture into squeeze bottles and paint. Mixture will harden in a puffy shape. Finger Paint #1 1/2 cup of cornstarch Use 1/4 of the cup of cold water to dissolve gelatin. Use the other 3/4 cup cold water to dissolve cornstarch. Add hot water to cornstarch mixture and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until it comes to a boil and is clear. Remove from heat. Blend in softened gelatin. Add detergent or soap flakes and stir until dissolved. Store in tightly closed jars. Add food color as desired. Paint on thick or coated paper such as butcher paper. Finger Paint #2
1 cup of all purpose flour Combine flour and one cup of water into a large saucepan. Stir in water until smooth. Add the remaining 3 cups of water and place over medium heat. Bring themixture to a sustained boil (cannot be stirred down) for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Let cool. Pour into 3 or 4 separate containers. Add food coloring. Store the paint in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Finger Paint #3 Instant vanilla pudding Mix together. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator |
Soap Paint 1 cup of laundry soap flakes Mix together. Beat with an egg beater until fluffy. Use to fingerpaint. Soap Paint #2 1 cup of laundry soap flakes Mix together. Beat with a whisk for 3 or 4 minutes. Use to fingerpaint Sparkle Paint 2 T salt 2 T water 1 T tempera paint Mix together. Repeat for each color you want to use.You can put the paint into sqirt bottles (condiment bottles from the $1 store) or apply with a brush. Salt Pictures Table salt (not iodinized) Put salt in a small plastic bag. Add a couple of dropsof food coloring (more drops for darker colors). Then close the bag and start mixing with your fingers. Shake the salt around inside the bag to make sure it is evenly colored. Pour out onto waxed paper and allow to dry overnight. Use outline pictures and fill areas with a thin coat of whiteglue. Sprinkle the colored salt onto the glue. Allow to dry and tap off the excess. Sand pictures Sand Mix dry tempera paint with sand. |
 Toddler Art
(Since toddlers stick everything in their mouths, it’s safe to eat these “art” supplies. Please note that most of these doughs use sugar as the binding agent, so they should definitely be for occasional use only!) |
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Toddler Finger Paint Any kind of instant pudding Water paper to paint on Mix pudding with water till you have the desired consistency. Paint! Use instant vanilla pudding and add food coloring for desired color. Frosting Play Dough 1 can of vanilla frosting Mix allingredients in bowl with spoon. Knead into workable dough. Model like play dough. Peanut Butter Play Dough
1 cup of peanut butter Mix ingredients together. Play, make shapes using cookie cutters, sculpture or EAT |
Peanut Butter Clay #2 This is a great way to entertain those toddlers! You don't have to worry about them eating this dough, though it might make them a little chubby if they eat too much! 1 cup of peanut butter Mix and knead. Give to your toddler and let him/her manipulate the dough, explore with it and make things with it. (You may add various "decorating" materials according to age such as raisins, chocolate chips, dried fruit, pretzels, smarties, m&m's, etc.) Peanut Butter Clay #3 If your child is allergic to milk, use this recipe rather than the one above ... 1/2 C peanut butter Make shapes by squashing together shapes formed of the dough or by rolling out and using cookie cutters, use raisins, and other foods to help decorate shapes |
Bubbles
It’s hard to blow bubbles on a windy day or if the air is extremely dry. Most bubble experts recommend using regular Dawn or Joy dish-washing detergent. Glycerin can be found in most pharmacies. Glycerin works better than sugar to help stabilize the bubbles and gives a shiny appearance. Stir thoroughly, but do not make little bubbles when stirring. Most bubble solutions will work better if allowed to “rest” overnight before using. Dispense the solution in a flat shallow container for easy use. I frequently cut the bottom off the large plastic liquid laundry detergent bottles with a 2" rim, which gives a sturdy bubble solution container which doesn't tip as easily as a bowl or pie tin. These recycled containers can be thrown away at the end of the bubble-making session. Experiment with different kinds of bubble "wands". Anything with a hole in the center can be used--straws, spools, 6-pack plastic, wands made from bent pipe cleaners or other light wire, plasic lids with a hole cut in the center, etc. Bend a wire coat hanger into a circle for a really big wand. It will work better if you wrap the hanger in cotton string so that the bubble solution will have something to cling to. If you want to get really crazy, use a child's wading pool and a hula hoop to make giant bubbles (moving slowly and swooping the hoop through the air works best). Store your bubble solution in a container with a lid (an empty detergent bottle or mayonaise jar works fine)--be sure to label it! |
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Best Ever Bubbles (toddler friendly) 1 cup of warm water Mix together and allow to rest before using. 
Bubble Blowing Mix 1/4 cup of liquid dishwashing soap Dissolve the sugar into the water. Add the dishwashing soap. Mix together. |
Beluga Bubbles 1 cup of warm water Combine all ingredients. Mix until salt dissolves. Lots-O-Bubbles 1/2 cup of water Mix together. Best Bubble Solution 1 cup of water Mix together. |
 Sunny Day Fun
Milk Explosions/SunCatchers Pour a small amount of milk into a shallow container and drop food coloring around the edges. Drop one drop of dish soap in the middle and see what happens! (You can also pour athin layer of white glue on a small paper plate and repeat the experiment foreach child. Let it dry and you have a wonderful sun catcher.) |
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Clown Paint 1/8 cup of baby lotion Mix ingredients Face paint #2 2 tablespoons of soft shortening Take a small bowl or paper cup to mix together the ingredients- you will need separate bowls or cups for each color. Mix the cornstarch into the shortening and add a few drops of food coloring. Stir well. Add more food coloring if needed. How to Put It All Together for #2: Wash your face, dry it, and apply a cold cream or moisturizer all over it.Now, take a cotton ball and apply a layer of corn starch on your face. Next add the face paint and decorate your face with your fingers using the colors you have chosen. Be sure and wash your face after you are through being a clown |
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Preheat oven to250. Place broken, peeled crayon piecess in the bottom of muffin cups to fillabout ½ full. TURN OFF THE OVEN. [DO NOT place the crayon pieces in the oven while the oven is lit-there is a serious fire danger!] Place the muffin tin in the warm oven and allow the pieces to melt together and cool. When cool, pop thescribble cookies out of the muffin tin and use to color. |
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Recipes for fun
