Soft-As-Silk Play Dough

(Note: my husband used my cell phone to take pictures of this activity. They all turned out sepia-toned. Let’s pretend that we intentionally planned it that way, okay?)

My older sister, Linda, shared with me a recipe for homemade play dough that is super soft.

She shared it a LONG time ago. Like months ago. Like last year sometime. I’m finally getting around to writing about it. Call me Speedy Gonzales . . .

The recipe is rather interesting. The liquid you use is hair conditioner!

The recipe is super easy. It’s one part hair conditioner to two parts corn starch. And, a few drops of your favorite color of food coloring.

Since I was making this with two of my grandsons, each one got to make their own play dough. We ended up with TONS of play dough.

I used one cup of corn starch to one-half cup of conditioner. Let me tell you what I learned.

Previously, my husband bought Head and Shoulders shampoo. When he got home, he realized that it was hair conditioner and not shampoo. Well, I already have tons of my own hair conditioner that I use so I decided to use the Head and Shoulders conditioner for this silky smooth play dough.

The Head and Shoulders hair conditioner was rather thick. As I squirted it out, it reminded me of the ‘snake’ fireworks you can get at the 4th of July. Remember those black, puffy snakes you got when you lit them? This conditioner came out like that snake fireworks. It wasn’t very liquid-y. No siree, Bob!

I had to add more conditioner to get the play dough to the right consistency. Next time, I think I’ll get conditioner from the dollar store and make sure it is thinner and runnier.

Here we are. Anxious to get started. (Notice Elliot’s little rosy cheeks? That’s what they look like when he is tired. It was past his bedtime when we started making the play dough.)

Elliot gets his own bowl to make his own play dough.

Simon gets his bowl to mix up his play dough.

Next, I add the conditioner. See how thick it is as it comes out?

Simon stirs and stirs and stirs. Elliot watches his big brother to see how it is done.

We finally get it to the right consistency. They smooshed the dough flat onto the table.

They made balls and rolled them across the table to Grandpa. Well, Simon rolled his balls. Elliot threw them. He didn’t quite get the concept of ‘rolling.’ (At this point in time, I didn’t have the right consistency. It was a tad TOO sticky. So, I had to add some more corn starch.)

Then we made snowmen, pizzas, bread, chocolate chip cookies, cakes, pancakes, waffles, whales, snakes, and a whole host of other creative shapes.

Ssshhhh! Don’t tell their mother. We got corn starch and play dough all over their pajamas, their hands and arms, their faces, the table, and the floor. Of course, we cleaned all of the evidence up before Mom and Dad got home.

And sshhhhh don’t tell their mother that they stayed up past their bed time making this play dough. That’s why their cheeks are so rosy red!

Since these grandchildren are rather young, I could have made less dough and that would have been best. So, I should have used only 1/2 cup of corn starch and 1/4 cup of hair conditioner.

It is amazing how silky smooth this play dough is. And your hands feel smooth afterwards, too. And even better, it smells divine — if you like the smell of the conditioner that you use!