We have had SO much winter this year, and it’s not over yet!  In an effort to embrace the winter weather (rather than complain about it which is what I really want to do), I made some white playdough for making snowmen.  Owen had a great time making snowmen for our Snowman Jars, but with those, he really couldn’t make the snowman over and over like he wanted to.  Playdough is better than Model Magic for re-shaping.

(If you need a playdough recipe, I put ours at the end of the post.)

I set out playdough, buttons, googly eyes, sticks, and felt (for making scarves and orange noses).

Playdough Snow Goons

With four boys, I figured that we would probably end up with some strange and interesting snow creatures rather than classic snowmen, and I was right!  We had one snowman…

Playdough Snow Goons

And then all sorts of snow creatures which they termed “snow goons,” a name inspired by Calvin and Hobbes.

Playdough Snow Goons

Who needs a scarf?  The red felt looked more like a creature tongue to Owen.

Playdough Snow Goons

And it kind of grew from there!

Playdough Snow Goons

Gresham made all sorts of amazingly creative creatures with the sticks and buttons and many, many eyes!

Playdough Snow Goons

This one was my contribution to the fun:

Playdough Snow Goons

This activity really improved a dreary winter day!  It’s always great to find something that all four of the boys can enjoy together.

Here is the playdough recipe that we used:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1 T cream of tartar

1 T vegetable oil

1 cup water

Mix the dry ingredients, then stir in the water and oil.  Cook over medium heat.  Keep stirring until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and looks like playdough. (This takes just a few minutes.)  Let it cool and then knead well.  If you want to add food coloring, add it after the playdough is cool.

We used unbleached flour, so our snow playdough was not very white.  Bleached flour would look better.

For more winter play:

3 Comments

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  1. JJ Feb 6, 2014

    "Snow Goons" :o) My favorite strips are the ones where Calvin makes those! I always laugh hard when I see the one where he made the Snow Shark chasing the Snow Man swimming through the snow!!!

    Reply
  2. Angela Bergeron Feb 7, 2014

    Thank you for sharing! I don't have vegetable oil in my house and I've never made playdough before. Do you think olive oil, grapeseed oil or coconut oil would work as well?

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    1. Sarah Feb 7, 2014

      Yes, I haven't tried them but I think any of those would work just as well! Or baby oil.

      Reply
  3. Thea Feb 7, 2014

    Thanks for the recipe. I wonder - does this play dough keep at all? I once made a batch and stored it in air tight containers, but the next day it had started to get watery. The reason I ask is that I'd really like to give play dough away as a gift... but it'll need to keep a couple of months (so kids can play with it time and again). Any suggestions? Thanks!

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    1. Sarah Feb 7, 2014

      We have found this playdough to keep well. We have kept ours in a ziploc bag for up to two months. How fast it dries out depends on how often you play with it, but I'd say it lasts as long as the store bought playdough does. How long it lasts does depend on the weather. If you live in a humid climate, you might need to store it in the refrigerator.

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