We are kicking off our 4th of July holiday celebration by making some patriotic play doh! Is it doh or dough? I’ll use both.

For Logan’s first 4th of July celebration we packed up the bag and took him down to the local park for fireworks. It was about a zillion (actual number) degrees outside. We waited in an enormous line to order a pizza in a hot and tiny pizza shop (because we failed to consider it was dinner time and we were starving). And then we laid out our blanket on the crowded field and tried to keep a toddler busy for an hour or two until the show began.

After, we hustled to the car which we strategically parked a million (smaller but still actual) miles away on a back road so we can easily escape. One wrong “turn here” instruction by myself landed us in a completely stopped traffic line with an overtired crying toddler. It was a FANTASTIC experience.

After that we figured out that low-key celebrating is perfect for us. When we upgrade to a home with a backyard I can definitely see us hosting BBQs just so we never have to leave the house on the 4th ever again! (We are dramatic, we know this!)

Last year we walked to the fields behind our house and lit some little fireworks and sparklers and it was perfect! We got great pictures – because of course thats half of celebrating any holiday – and great memories!

This year we will likely do the same.

Since it is a rare occasion that D is home on a weekday in the middle of the week we have sworn off doing any chores in favor of spending the day making family memories (just as soon as I hit publish on this post, that is!).

To kick off the day, we put Av for a nap and got to work making some patriotic play doh with Lo. He has been on a play doh kick and really has fun making his own. It also buys me some time to get some things done around the house and/or enjoying a warm-ish coffee while the kids are quiet.

We also took play doh with us on our recent trip to Disney which was very helpful keeping Lo busy while we all got dressed for the day.

Although we went red and blue today you can, of course, use any colors you like (or none at all) any day of the year. It is such an easy thing to make and only takes 6 ingredients, most of which we always have in the cabinet anyway!

The first step is to gather all of the ingredients and keep your toddler from reaching in to grab them all while you take a nice blog photo. That is probably the hardest part of the whole process. Lo was relatively patient with me.

It is fun to get little hands involved when measuring and adding the flour. We combined the flour, salt and cream of tartar and then Lo mixed it – and only flung about half of it (but we’ll just dump that back in…nobody saw). It is always a fun experience when kids get to help out and see the fruits of their labors in the end. I would like to say it makes him appreciate it more but….I’ll be sweeping it up from the floor after I post this.

We add in the oil – we used coconut oil this time, we have used vegetable oil that we had in the past as well – and then things got clumpy and he hands it off to mom for the hard work.

The next step may also be a challenge – because I have to take said mixture away from the tiny hands to add in the boiled water and food coloring. This time around we split the dry mix before adding the water so that we could make two colors. This does make a lot of dough so you can easily split it two or three ways to have some variety.

D helped us with mixing the dough. It’s best to use a spoon at first since it is so hot but once it is cool enough to touch – get in there and have some fun! Add a little bit of water at a time and mix it in. You want it to be soft and stay together but not sticky. If you do add too much you can always add a bit of flour back to fix it. If you split the dry mix to make multiple colors you’ll need to split the water for each color too. The measurement of water is less important since you’ll be using your judgement to add it in.

Play with the dough until it is fully cooled and then hand it off to your patiently waiting child who is likely attached to you at this point.

This dough will keep for a long time as long as you store it in a sealed, air tight container out of direct sunlight.

Easiest DIY Play Doh Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (you can use a gluten free option if you prefer, we used all purpose)
• 1/2 cup salt (we use coarse which adds some texture)
• 2 Tbsp cream of tartar
• 2 Tbsp oil (we use coconut oil, you can also use vegetable oil)
• 1.5 cups water
• Food coloring
• Optional Add-ins: essential oils, glitter, dried lavender, etc.

Directions

1. Combine flour, salt and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl.
2. Add oil and mix – this will be clumpy. At this point I scooped out about a cup of the mixture into a separate bowl to make two separate colors. This recipe makes a good amount of play dough so you can easily split it up several ways.
3. Bring water to a boil and add in your food coloring. For more vibrant colors you will have to add a lot since it will be diluted. If you have split your dry mixture you will have to split the water as well and boil separately. It is less important to have an exact measure of water since you will add until it is the proper consistency.
4. Add water slowly, stopping to mix before adding more, until you reach the correct consistency. If too sticky, add a small amount of flour.
5. Add-ins: we did not use any, but you could add just about anything to increase the sensory benefits of the dough! Just keep in mind the size of the items you add for choking hazards and edibility.

Happy 4th of July, y’all!