Play dough is one of my favorite play things of all time. This unstructured material not only brings out creativity, it is also very good for imaginative play and it relieves stress! And it can be used by almost all ages! Here is my favorite play dough recipe which I have been using for the past 5 years of teaching. 

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup water
½ cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
Food coloring

Procedure:

Mix dry ingredients and mix wet ingredients, then stir together. Stir constantly over medium heat until the ingredients change from a lumpy paste into more of a rubbery blob. The color will also change a bit, turning less pastel: If you use red dye it will become less pink and more red. Turn out onto a working surface and knead the dough. After making the dough store it in zipper-style bags in individual portion sizes for each child in your program.

To get a strong color, you need a great deal of coloring, perhaps a tablespoon. If you regularly make large amounts of play dough, you can save money by buying large containers of cream of tartar and coloring at a restaurant supply store or discount store.

You can also make this dough in the microwave: microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Let cool and knead.