Schoolhouse recipes

These are not my recipes, but I'm posting them because I get the same hand-out every class for the same play dough, bubble solutions, etc.

Cooked Playdough

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups salt
2 TB cream of tartar
3 cups water
3 TB salad oil
food coloring
extract or oil for scent (lemon, peppermint, cinnamon)
packet of Kool-Aid for color or scent

Combine flour, salt, cream of tartar, salad oil and water with food coloring added into water. Cook until sides pull away from the pan and it forms a ball. Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture is no longer sticky. Keep in plastic, airtight container.

Flub

1 box cornstarch
2 cups water
food coloring, if desired

Combine food coloring and water, then add to cornstarch. Mix and explore. Keep in plastic airtight container.

Bubble Solution
2 cups Joy or Dawn liquid dishwashing soap
6 cups water
3/4 (cups, presumably) light Karo syrup

Combine all ingredients, mix, let sit at least four hours before use. Fits into a 2-liter soda bottle.

Crayon Cookies

Sort pieces of broken crayons as to color. Remove paper wrappings. Put into muffin paper-lined muffin tins. Place in oven for 5-10 minutes at 350F. Crayons will melt and form a cookie-shaped crayon. Cool and remove the muffin papers.

Bead Clay
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup cornstarch
warm water

Mix flour, salt and cornstarch in bowl. Add warm water gradually until mixture forms a shape. Knead until smooth. Make beads, pierce with toothpicks or straws and allow to dry. Paint and string. Seal, if desired.

Cornstarch Dough

1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup cornstarch

Mix salt and hot water and boil in pan. Stir cold water into cornstarch in bowl. Add cornstarch mixture to boiling water and stir. Cook over low, stirring until like pie dough. Remove and turn onto a board. When cool, knead until smooth. Texture is grainy. Keeps a long time if stored in an airtight container. Objects made will air dry to hard in 1 to 2 days.

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I thought we'd try the muffin tin crayons yesterday, but to my shock and dismay, discovered the kids had thrown away all of the broken crayon pieces I'd been saving. Guess we'll be waiting a bit longer. Instead, we made the cooked play dough. I've tried this recipe before (blue in color, peppermint in scent) and I ended up burning it. This time we tried to make it purple with Kool-Aid, but the color separated and it looked grey, so I added a lot of red food coloring and kind of saved it. It has that artificial grape scent. I didn't burn it this time--as soon as I thought it was done, I turned the fire off. Also, I tried to dissolve all of the dry ingredients in the water before heating it. I wasn't completely successful, but there are no charred bits so I consider it a success. I will post a picture later.