Playdough

Okay.

I have the secret.

It's not difficult. Are you with me?

You take one saucepan.

Lemme see! Lemme see!

Climb up here then, on this chair. Can you see now? Good.

You take one saucepan.

The big one! Use the big one! It's so shiny!

Okay. I'll use the big one. So. Ready?

You take one saucepan.

I can see my face! It looks sooooo biiiiiiiiiig... And a bit... wobbly...

Ahem. Ready? I'm starting now. Can I get past the first bit? Good. Okay.

You take one saucepan. And some measuring cups.

They're so COOL! Can I see? Can I hold them? Wow! They all fit into each other! Can I have them in my room?

No. So. We have a saucepan. And some measuring cups. Next? Next we need our ingredients. You take...

What are ingrediments?

The ingredients are what you put in the pan. So. Ready? Good.

You take two cups of flour.

Can I do this bit? It's sooooooo messy. One cup. Two... oops. Sorry....

That's okay. We'll use the dustpan and brush later. Do we have two cups in there? Good.

And one cup of salt. I think I'll do that one, if that's okay with you. And four teaspoons of Cream of Tartar. Oh yes, that's right. We need the measuring spoons.

Oh! They're so CUTE! They're even smaller than the cups! Can I have THESE ones in my room?

No. If you're really lucky, I'll get you your own for Christmas.

So. We have two cups of flour, one cup of salt, four teaspoons of Cream of Tartar. Next we need two tablespoons of oil. I think I'll do that one, too, if that's okay with you. Pass me the oil. Gloopy, isn't it?

Can I have some oil for Christmas, too?

What would you want with oil? Anyway, you can always use mine.

So. Two tablespoons of oil. Next we need two cups of water. You can do that bit. Can you reach the tap? That's good. Now, turn it... gently! Never mind. What's the good thing about water?

It dries.

That's right. So. Two cups please.

Now. What colour would you like your dough to be?

Purple.

I should have said. You can pick a colour from any of these bottles here.

Green, then. Please.

Okay. I'll put a big splash of that in the saucepan. Now, we heat it on the stove. Can you see? Careful! It gets very hot. We stir it and stir it. Isn't that messy? Slowly, slowly. It's heating up and mixing together. Isn't that a lovely colour. It's kind of beech-leaf green, isn't it? Can you see it's not so sticky now? It's coming together and now, now that it's not shiny any more, that means it's not gooey either. You can poke it with your finger, like this, and it doesn't stick. That means it's ready. Are you ready to play with it?

Sweetheart?

Where did you go?

Darling?

Ah. Well.

Sleep well sweetie-pie.