1 cup of sand
2 teaspoons of dry tempera paint
1 teaspoon water

Add the dry tempera paint to the sand; then mix well with a fork. Stir in the water. Allow the sand to dry for several hours before using.

Assorted pastas
food color
rubbing alcohol
plastic bag

Place assorted pastas in plastic bag, add 6-8 drops of food coloring of choice and one tsp of rubbing alcohol and shake. Put on cookie sheet to dry. Takes about 5-10 min to dry and then voila! Make pictures,necklaces, beaded tissue boxes or whatever. Use your imagination and have fun. Kids love them.

salt
food coloring
zip lock baggies

This is a simple way to make colored sand that my first graders can do themselves. Just add salt into the baggie and a couple drops of food coloring (the darker you want the more drops). Then close the baggie and start mixing with your fingers. Shake the sand around to ensure all the sand gets colored

3 c Lint (from laundry dryers)
2 c Cold or warm water
2/3 c Non-self-rising wheat flour
3 drops oil of wintergreen
Old newspaper

Put lint and water in a large saucepan. Stir to dampen all parts of the lint. Add flour and stir thoroughly to prevent lumps. Add oil of wintergreen. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture holds together and forms peaks. Pour out onto several thicknesses of newspaper to cool. Use as you would papier-m�ch� pulp or shaped over armatures (boxes, bottles, balloons, and so forth) or press into a mold. This material will dry in 3 to 5 days to a very hard, durable surface. When wet it has a feltlike consistency. It dries to smooth or rough, depending on how it is used. When pressed into a mold, a hard, smooth finish is obtained. Stored in an airtight container, it will keep for several days.

1 c Fine sawdust
Food coloring
Old newspaper
Shellac or Varnish
1 c Thin Paste or Paper Paste

1. If desired, dye sawdust with food coloring. Drain and spread on newspaper to dry before using. 2. Mix sawdust and paste to a thick doughlike consistency. Knead until thoroughly mixed. The amounts of paste may vary according to the kind of sawdust used. If the sawdust is coarse, more paste may be needed to obtain the proper consistency. QUANTITY: Makes about 1 cup. USES: Model as with clay. Articles molded with this compound have a lovely woodgrain appearance. TO USE: Pieces of dough may be added to the basic piece by moistening and sticking them down. Within two to three days, the finished article will harden. To speed up drying bake in a 200-degree-F. oven for 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the article. To give the article a permanent finish, spray with shellac or varnish. They an also be sanded to give a smoother finish.

1/2 Cup Elmer's glue
1/2 Cup Starch -- liquid
Food coloring

Do NOT substitute any other glue for Elmer's glue! Slowly add starch to glue and knead with fingers. The more you work with it the better it gels. Add food coloring if you want.

Flour
Vegetable oil
Powdered tempera paint
Large bowl
Water

Mix 6 cups flour with the desired amount of tempera paint in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups oil and 1 cup water and knead well. If necessary, add more water, in small amounts, until the dough is soft and fluffy. More flour can be added if the dough becomes too sticky. Have Fun!

4 c Unsifted all-purpose four
1 c Salt
1/4 c Instant coffee
1 1/2 c Warm water

1. Dissolve the coffee in the warm water. 2. In another bowl, mix the flour and the salt. 3. Make a hole in this and add 1 cup of the coffee water into it. 4. Mix with a fork or hands until smooth. 5. Add more coffee water if needed: dough should be smooth and satiny, not sticky or crumbly. Store in a plastic bag to prevent drying of the dough. Bake finished designs in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour or more (until hard). Add 2 coats of shellac to preserve.

White elmer's school glue
food coloring
liquid starch

You need small cups filled with glue (1/2 cup)and then let the kids drop few drops of coloring food into the glue and mix with a popsicle stick . Pour 1/4 cup liquid starch into colored glue and mix.

flour
cocoa powder
salt
cream of tartar
cooking oil
boiling water

Mix 1 1/4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup salt,1/2 Tablespoon cream of tartar. Add 1 1/2 Tablespoons cooking oil, 1 cup boiling water. Stir quickly, mix well. Cook over low heat until dough forms a ball. When cool , mix with your hands. Store in airtight container. It will smell good enough to eat but without sugar in it kids will not want to taste it a second time

1/2 cup P-nut Butter 2 Tbsp honey
half a cup of flour
P-nut Butter Playdough is fun for kids but most recipes call for :
1/2 cup P-nut Butter,
2 Tbsp honey,
1/3 cup powdered milk.

My sons highly sensitive allergy to milk required me to experiment and I found that substituting the powdered milk with half a cup of flour works equally as well. We decorated with sesame seeds and thin carrot sticks to make snails worms, caterpillars and bugs for his bug themed birthday.