How to make no-cook playdough with your kids in 7 easy steps

• Making playdough with your kids is an easy way to pass the time.
• The no-cook method is less stressful and keeps your kids involved throughout the process.
• A lot of the ingredients you need to make it are probably already in your home pantry, like flour, and we're here to help you find the ones that aren't.

In a world currently full of surprises and uncertainty, it's nice to have at least one consistent standby at your disposal. For my family, that is playdough.

Several days into throwing every possible arts and crafts project at my kids while my husband and I figured out how to handle our new normal of no school, no field trips, and no breaks, we realized that our Play-Doh had been left out repeatedly and for too long. The bright yellow cups rattled with the pebble remnants of what was otherwise a great activity for passing the time.

Cut to me scrambling to remember a handful of student-teaching days ages ago. The little 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds got a chance to make playdough together at least once a week, as part of the school's learning-through-play curriculum.

The kids loved the opportunity to mix the dry ingredients, watch as the teachers carefully poured hot water, and see what different colors they could create each time.

After compiling data from those memories, some brief research on Montessori projects, tips from other parents, and regular old trial and error, I established a recipe for no-cook playdough that kept us busy during its creation and for hours afterward.

Here's my tried-and-true recipe for no-cook playdough

• large bowl, mixing spoon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup iodized salt
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon oil (we used coconut; you could also use olive or vegetable)
• 3/4–2 cups boiling water
• food coloring

First, figure out your workspace and prep accordingly. One of our most beloved, multipurpose tools is a large roll of brown kraft paper. It plays a multitude of roles in our craft projects, mostly as standard drawing and painting canvases, but also as a protective layer for whatever surface we are creating on. Pro tip: If you want to go all out, get a paper cutter, too.

Next, grab all your ingredients, and work out a game plan for what color you'd like your playdough to be. It will be easiest to use a color that comes straight from the selection of food coloring bottles in the box, and then choose how dark or light you want it. We tried for purple and were way off on the ratio.

I like to pre-measure everything and set it out to make it easier (read: less messy) for my kids to participate in the process of making the playdough.

How to make playdough

1. Start your water boiling.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in your large bowl.
3. Make a well, add in the oil, and stir.
4. When the water is boiling hot, safely transfer it to a container that will hold at least 2 cups. We love our clear Pyrex 2-cup measuring cup for this purpose.
5. Then add your food coloring directly to the water. Your other option is to NOT add any food coloring at this point. You can make the whole batch plain, then divide it into a number of smaller chunks, and follow the directions below for adding dye later to create an array of colors.
6. Start by pouring in 3/4 cups of water. We only needed to add a splash or two more to be able to combine everything well, but follow your own preference and add water as desired. Ultimately, you want the playdough to be mixed but sticky.
7. Let the mixture cool, then knead well. If you, like us, want to make an adjustment to the color of the playdough (like if you tried but failed to use enough red), now is your chance to add it in; just make a well in the dough first.

Voila! You have at least one, if not more, chunks of playdough!

Let your little ones relish in their successful project by utilizing their fine motor skills with some cookie cutters and other rolling, cutting, and smushing toys.

If you keep it in a zip-top bag or airtight container, the playdough should last up to three months. If you notice it drying out before then, add a drop or two of water and knead thoroughly.