Make It With the Family: Valentine’s Day Play Dough

Surprise your child with a new batch of glittery, scented play dough.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil such as canola
• Red food coloring
• Mint or peppermint extract
• Glitter
• Cupcake liners

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a medium saucepan.
2. Add water, oil and mix well. It will be lumpy.
3. Cook over medium-low heat for approximately five minutes. Stir frequently. It will become sticky.
4. Keep cooking until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pot.
5. Put ball of dough into a bowl and cover with a wet towel. Let the dough cool for a minute or two.
6. Knead dough until it is smooth.
7. Divide the dough into two balls. One will remain white. Add several drops of mint extract and about 2 tablespoons of silver glitter to this one. Knead well to disperse the glitter.
8. Add several drops of red food coloring to the second ball. Add about 2 tablespoons of red glitter. Knead well.
9. Invite your kids to raid the kitchen utensil drawer and have fun playing with the dough. Our favorites: the garlic press and melon baller.
10. Store in a Tupperware container for several weeks.

Directions For Goodie Bags:

Use about ¼ cup of the red dough and roll into a ball. Repeat with the white dough. The recipe above made 14 balls (seven of each color), which is not quite enough for a typical class so you will want to double the recipe. You can also stretch the dough by rolling it out and using a cookie cutter to make heart shapes. Place each piece in a cupcake liner, place inside a zip lock bag and decorate with a tag.