“Do you still add the boiling water from your play dough recipe?” · Tami Booth
Author Yes. The author followed the same recipe as her fresh flowers play dough, and this one needs boiling water.
The story behind it
By TurkeyMom · August 2013
Ages3–6 yrs
Prep20 min
Activity30 min
Leveleasy
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class
Fold mashed, water-soaked crepe paper into a batch of homemade play dough to make a smooth, colorful dough with a spongy, speckled paper texture inside. It works well as a follow-up to a crepe paper painting activity.
⚠️ Safety first
- Adult handles the boiling water and does the mixing while the dough is hot. Let the dough cool before kids knead it.
- Not for eating. The dough contains paper and play dough ingredients, so supervise children who still put things in their mouths.
- Wet crepe paper and food color bleed dye and can stain hands, clothes and tables.
- Supervise sensory play at all times.
Before the kids arrive
- Soak torn crepe paper in water, one bowl per color. You can reuse the paper from a crepe paper painting activity.
- Crunch up and mash the soaked paper, then measure about 1 cup per batch.
- Have your favorite homemade play dough recipe ready. The author used her fresh flowers play dough recipe, which uses boiling water.
Steps
Soak torn crepe paper in water, one color per bowl.
Squeeze and crunch up the colored paper until it is mashed. Measure about 1 cup.
Set out the play dough ingredients, using half as much flour as paper (1/2 cup flour).
Mix the dry ingredients well with a bit of food color.
Adult: add the boiling water from your play dough recipe and stir.
Just before the dough starts becoming a ball, add the mashed crepe paper. Keep folding until the mixture is uniform and smooth.
Add 1 tsp corn syrup and knead once the dough is cool enough to handle.
Cut or pull open a ball of dough to see and feel the spongy paper texture inside.
Squish, pinch, cut and play!
Tips
- For about 1 cup of crepe paper, take half the amount of flour.from the author
- A tsp of corn syrup (for half a cup of flour) made the play dough smoother, and don't worry, it did not make it sticky at all.from the author
- Once you start cutting or opening the play dough you really see and feel a VERY different texture inside. The colored crepe paper creates a spongy look.from the author
- Those tiny paper specks add character.from the author
- Don't skip the boiling water. The base recipe still needs it.from readers
Make it your own
- Run it as an extension of the crepe paper sensory painting activity: paint with the wet crepe paper first, then mash the leftover paper into play dough.
- Make one batch per color for a set of speckled doughs.
Questions readers asked
Do I still add the boiling water from the play dough recipe?
Yes. The author says she followed the same recipe as her fresh flowers play dough, and it needs boiling water.
Will the corn syrup make the dough sticky?
No. The author says it made the dough smoother and did not make it sticky at all.
What readers say
💬 4 comments ✍️ 1 answered by the author 🍎 tried with 1 classes or groups
Answered by the author
🛠️ Troubleshooting
Don't forget the boiling water
A reader couldn't find the boiling water in the post. The author confirmed it follows her fresh flowers play dough recipe, which needs boiling water.
“This one needs boiling water.”
🍎 In the classroom
Preschool teacher plans to try it
A preschool teacher was looking forward to making this paper play dough with her class.
“Looking forward to doing this at the preschool i teach at.”
🎉 Worked for us
A creative twist on play dough
A reader who loves play dough variations found this one especially creative and expected the texture to be great.
“I love all the different variations of play dough but this is particularly creative!”
Read all 4 comments
Tami Booth · Aug 2013
I dont see the boiling water from your playdough recipe added anywhere? Do you still add it? Thanks! Looking forward to doing this at the preschool i teach at.
TurkeyMomAuthor · Aug 2013 · replying to Tami Booth
Hi Tammy, Thanks for reading. As mentioned in the post, I followed the same recipe from here. This one needs boiling water.
Tina · Aug 2013
What a great idea! I love all the different variations of play dough but this is particularly creative! It looks great, and I bet the texture is awesome.