if you use play dough, and you have carpet then you may be in trouble!
play dough and carpet have a natural attraction to one an other. like peas in a pod they love to spend time together.
firstly, be the over protective parent or teacher and dont leave them in a room together alone, cause we all know they're gonna get up to no good!
if the worst happens, you will have two scenarios, wet and smudgy or dry and crusty (or somewhere inbetween)
for wet and smudgy, remember that playdough is water soluble so scoop of as much as you can with the edge of a spoon then with a wet warm soapy (remember play dough has oil) cloth, moisten the carpet until the play dough dissolves then with a dry cloth suck up the liquid out of the carpet. get as much out as you can and repeat if you need to. allow to dry and then with a stiff brush, brush any dry flour dust out of the pile and vacuum
if you are left with dry and crusty, tke your spoon and gently (depends on how fragile your carpet is) break up the chunks and suck up with a vacuum. once the majority of the crusty demon is gone, again get a stiff brush or the brush tool of a vaccuum and suck up the residual powder whilst giving the carpet a good scrub to loosen all the last bits. if its not all gone or there is a bit of salty crust left. then use a moist soapy cloth and when its dried give it a last vaccuum
happy carpet cleaning
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
the chemistry of playdough
see below for play dough recipes but ...
i found this how stuff works site and thought i would share it. if you want to know the chemistry of whats going on in play dough works then this is the place..
i found this how stuff works site and thought i would share it. if you want to know the chemistry of whats going on in play dough works then this is the place..
rehydrating play dough (playdoh)
basically, it seems that it can be rehydrated if its not left too long to dry out,
here are 2 options
IF YOU WANT IT NOW...
adding just a little water at a time knead it in until its back to fresh again
IF YOU WANNA DO LESS WORK AND HAVE IT IN A LITTLE BIT...
wrap the play dough in a damp cloth, and let the moisture slowly seep in. after and hour give it a knead and see if its right, if not moisten the cloth and wait a little longer.
if the playdough is really dry you may just have to start over. sorry
here are 2 options
IF YOU WANT IT NOW...
adding just a little water at a time knead it in until its back to fresh again
IF YOU WANNA DO LESS WORK AND HAVE IT IN A LITTLE BIT...
wrap the play dough in a damp cloth, and let the moisture slowly seep in. after and hour give it a knead and see if its right, if not moisten the cloth and wait a little longer.
if the playdough is really dry you may just have to start over. sorry
what is cream of Tartar and why is it needed in play dough? the basics
Cream of tartar is something most people have never heard about or if they have it is something very boring looking in the back of their grandmas pantry that you cant eat when your starving coming home from school.
ok so i went on a hunt and found out some interesting stuff about this mysterious stuff. but before i go on if you can find it near where you live which i think is unlikely all is not lost...
so, from this site i learned that grapes are the only major natural source of tartaric acid. So, Cream of Tartar is a non toxic byproduct of the wine making industry. From the sound of it, the acid forms a layer on the inside of the wine barrels/ bottles which is scraped off and purified into cream of tartar
Cream of tartar does a few handy things in the kitchen. initially, it got famous when things like merangues and bomb alaska were super chic because it makes egg whites more stable and voluminous. it is also good at making a creamier texture in frosting/icing and sweet desserts because it stops the sugar crystals from forming.
ok, so after looking around A LOT more than i expected, i found very few concrete answers as to why you need cream of tartar in you playdough but i did find a lovely guy on this site that did a basic experiment by making play dough with the usual flour, salt, water, oil, colouring combo but then he added cream of tar tar to half the batch and left the other half without.
basically, the 2 doughs were both super fun and the kids loved it that day but the difference was noticed the next day...
about 24 hours later the cream of tartar recipe was fine and ready for another round but the other version had kinda collapsed and biodegraded into a sticky mud pie.
so to end in a very unscientific way..
cream of tartar is in the play dough to keep the dough pliable and non sticky for a longer time so you get more playtime for your cook time. which i think suits pretty much everyone!
having said that, if you just wanna play with playdough for a day and you dont have the cream of tar tar then no problem, live in the moment and chuck it out the next day....
ok so i went on a hunt and found out some interesting stuff about this mysterious stuff. but before i go on if you can find it near where you live which i think is unlikely all is not lost...
so, from this site i learned that grapes are the only major natural source of tartaric acid. So, Cream of Tartar is a non toxic byproduct of the wine making industry. From the sound of it, the acid forms a layer on the inside of the wine barrels/ bottles which is scraped off and purified into cream of tartar
Cream of tartar does a few handy things in the kitchen. initially, it got famous when things like merangues and bomb alaska were super chic because it makes egg whites more stable and voluminous. it is also good at making a creamier texture in frosting/icing and sweet desserts because it stops the sugar crystals from forming.
ok, so after looking around A LOT more than i expected, i found very few concrete answers as to why you need cream of tartar in you playdough but i did find a lovely guy on this site that did a basic experiment by making play dough with the usual flour, salt, water, oil, colouring combo but then he added cream of tar tar to half the batch and left the other half without.
basically, the 2 doughs were both super fun and the kids loved it that day but the difference was noticed the next day...
about 24 hours later the cream of tartar recipe was fine and ready for another round but the other version had kinda collapsed and biodegraded into a sticky mud pie.
so to end in a very unscientific way..
cream of tartar is in the play dough to keep the dough pliable and non sticky for a longer time so you get more playtime for your cook time. which i think suits pretty much everyone!
having said that, if you just wanna play with playdough for a day and you dont have the cream of tar tar then no problem, live in the moment and chuck it out the next day....
play dough alternatives and options for the more advanced in the play dough world
ok so now there are some recipes its time to go to level 2 .0
playdough advanced classes .....
everybody knows that you can mix different playdough colours together but i though i would mention it here as the starter of the advanced class, make 2 flat pieces of the dough and lay them on top of each other then the kids can roll them together, or fold the corners in, or just fold and fold and fold. then you can slice and dice it different ways with a butter knife to see the effects you get, beware though that if you mix primary colors the effect you get at the end will be ok eg yellow and ble will make green BUT contrasting colors will look great when they are all stripey and marbled but as they mix together you may not get much other than brown. having said that i like brown and it makes a great tree trunk...AND it teached the basics of colour mixing which is fascinating for most kids. infact perhaps we should only ever give children the primary coluors and they can mix whatever colour they like from there!
you can add glitter or coloured sand for a real razzle dazzle, but adding rice or other grains i have heard can make things go mouldy. which can be a good thing if you want to teach the kids about biology and parasitic relationships.
another suggestion i read for giving playdough is to add some kool aid powder to the mix. i dont mind the smell and i wonder weather ants may find playdough all of a sudden very delicious....
playdough advanced classes .....
everybody knows that you can mix different playdough colours together but i though i would mention it here as the starter of the advanced class, make 2 flat pieces of the dough and lay them on top of each other then the kids can roll them together, or fold the corners in, or just fold and fold and fold. then you can slice and dice it different ways with a butter knife to see the effects you get, beware though that if you mix primary colors the effect you get at the end will be ok eg yellow and ble will make green BUT contrasting colors will look great when they are all stripey and marbled but as they mix together you may not get much other than brown. having said that i like brown and it makes a great tree trunk...AND it teached the basics of colour mixing which is fascinating for most kids. infact perhaps we should only ever give children the primary coluors and they can mix whatever colour they like from there!
you can add glitter or coloured sand for a real razzle dazzle, but adding rice or other grains i have heard can make things go mouldy. which can be a good thing if you want to teach the kids about biology and parasitic relationships.
another suggestion i read for giving playdough is to add some kool aid powder to the mix. i dont mind the smell and i wonder weather ants may find playdough all of a sudden very delicious....
uncooked.. thats right uncooked playdough welllll.. sort of....
having said that all playdough recipes are the same i have found one that isnt
it is actually technically somewhere between playdough and bread dough without the yeast. the reason for the different is the low temperature and the fact that you have to knead it. but it does make a very nice dough and is definately worth a try...
so It is exacyly the same as the recipe found on many of the packets of cream of tarter. having said this it has a fundamental difference. you dont cook it! you dont mix the ingredients together cold then heat it up like normal.
just boil up the water and add it to your dry ingredients and mix from there. (be really careful you dont splash yourself with the water when your mixing)
as the author mentioned it does have a soft elastic texture. i think the kneading produces more gluten which gives it that rubbery feel. so if youve made a tonne of playdough and your ready to get EXPERIMENTAL then give this one a go.....
cool playgough (well definately cooler than the cooked one!)
2 cups of plain flour
4 tablespoons of 'cream of tartar'
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of salt
2 cups of boiling water
food colouring
as usual whack it all together and stir away
have faith, it will look a little funny at first but throw it out on the bench and give it a knead and fold for a few minutes and there you have it!
reference:
http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/play-dough-recipe.html
it is actually technically somewhere between playdough and bread dough without the yeast. the reason for the different is the low temperature and the fact that you have to knead it. but it does make a very nice dough and is definately worth a try...
so It is exacyly the same as the recipe found on many of the packets of cream of tarter. having said this it has a fundamental difference. you dont cook it! you dont mix the ingredients together cold then heat it up like normal.
just boil up the water and add it to your dry ingredients and mix from there. (be really careful you dont splash yourself with the water when your mixing)
as the author mentioned it does have a soft elastic texture. i think the kneading produces more gluten which gives it that rubbery feel. so if youve made a tonne of playdough and your ready to get EXPERIMENTAL then give this one a go.....
cool playgough (well definately cooler than the cooked one!)
2 cups of plain flour
4 tablespoons of 'cream of tartar'
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of salt
2 cups of boiling water
food colouring
as usual whack it all together and stir away
have faith, it will look a little funny at first but throw it out on the bench and give it a knead and fold for a few minutes and there you have it!
reference:
http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/play-dough-recipe.html
the classic playdough recipe.
OK so here is a classic playdough recipe, basically they are all the same and they are pretty hard to muck up so just get out the ingredients and get going.
Classic Play Dough Recipe
4 cups flour about 1 kilogram
1 cup salt (i know it sounds like a lot but it always was terrible to eat!)
4 cups water this will evaporate and will need to be put back as it dries out.
4 tablespoons oil. this is what makes the play dough magic, it slows the drying out process and stops it sticking to everything!
1/2 cup cream of tartar more on this later!
Mix all ingredients together in a pot over a low to medium heat (you just need get the dough above about 90 degrees Celsius, 194 degrees farenheit for it to be "cooked" .dont bother using a thermometer, its cooked when it looks like playdough and not like "dough" dough IE not sticky. make sure the whole lump gets heated right through by mushing it in the pan. Allow to cool a little bit before you store it in a nice air tight plastic container or snaplock bag. beware though the longer it sits the more it will dry out. play dough is a lot like a human being as i goes through its life it just gets all dry and crusty around the edges until it just stiffens up and dies. so as soon as the kids have finished playing do it a favour and tuck it into a nice air tight bed to assist in its eternal youth.
good luck (although you wont need it cause its pretty simple)
Classic Play Dough Recipe
4 cups flour about 1 kilogram
1 cup salt (i know it sounds like a lot but it always was terrible to eat!)
4 cups water this will evaporate and will need to be put back as it dries out.
4 tablespoons oil. this is what makes the play dough magic, it slows the drying out process and stops it sticking to everything!
1/2 cup cream of tartar more on this later!
Mix all ingredients together in a pot over a low to medium heat (you just need get the dough above about 90 degrees Celsius, 194 degrees farenheit for it to be "cooked" .dont bother using a thermometer, its cooked when it looks like playdough and not like "dough" dough IE not sticky. make sure the whole lump gets heated right through by mushing it in the pan. Allow to cool a little bit before you store it in a nice air tight plastic container or snaplock bag. beware though the longer it sits the more it will dry out. play dough is a lot like a human being as i goes through its life it just gets all dry and crusty around the edges until it just stiffens up and dies. so as soon as the kids have finished playing do it a favour and tuck it into a nice air tight bed to assist in its eternal youth.
good luck (although you wont need it cause its pretty simple)
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