Homemade playdough, natural dyes and food colouring make beautiful all-natural easter decorations and keep the kids (and us!) entertained for hours.
To make playdough/salt dough you will need:
-1 cup of all-purpose flour
-1/2 a cup of salt
-1/2 a cup of water
-2 tbsp oil, optional (anything you have in your cupboard, it makes the dough smoother)
Natural dyes:
You can add a few drops of food colouring or some colourful spice like turmeric or paprika, some cocoa powder or even powdered charcoal directly to the water. Onion skins or Berries like raspberries, mulberries or blueberries can be boiled in the water until dye is concentrated, straining the liquid two or three times, for deep pinkish hues. Boil red cabbage in water for 10 minute to create beautiful blues and purples if you add something acidic to the dye like lemon or vinegar. Kale or matcha powders even some cooked blended spinach can make lovely greens!
Directions:
Simply combine all the ingredients until you have a smooth dough, that you can easily shape into a ball. If you are making a variety of different coloured dough divide up the dry ingredients relative to the number of colours you want. Pour water into separate bowls add the colouring to the water then mix in together with the rest of the ingredients in their respective bowls.
The dough can keep in an airtight container for up to a week
or...
you can bake them at a low temperature (120 degrees Celsius) for 2 hours or until solid.
Enjoy hours of natural playing! ( :
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