Blue playdough and blueberries

We started blue day with some porridge mixed with blueberries.  There is something about blueberries that just makes me smile.  Luath has never eaten blueberries before.

She tried them but she can't have taken to them, she ate some porridge but decided to do some fingerpainting with most of it.  Oh well I loved them.

 

The blueberries were frozen and I noticed that the bowl they had been defrosting in had some lovely coloured water.  I had planned to make some playdough and thought I would try using the blueberry juice to dye it.

It is the first time I have made playdough and I genuinely was surprised at just how quick and easy it was.  I used a cooking method.:
Mix 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup salt, 1 tablespoon cream of tartar and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
Add 1/2 cup cold water (and colouring) into mixture and stir. Then add another 1/2 cup cold water.
Heat over a low heat, stirring until thicken and almost into a ball.
Tip out, let cool slightly.  Knead for 2 minutes.

The blueberry juice turned the dough a pretty light violet colour.  If I had more I am sure it would be even better.  As I am still wary of Luath eating the playdough I wanted it to be as none food coloured as possible, so I added some food paste to the mixture and turned it into a bright blue colour.

I looked out some blue kitchen items.  Luath wasn't too sure initially.  She prodded it with her fingers.  I took the knife and cut some of the dough.  She loved this and cut into the dough.  We used a cookie cutter, rolled, squeezed, pressed the dough. Luath's favourite thing was pulling the dough apart. She went to try to eat the dough once, I said "It's for playing with", which resulted in quite a few tears (she is such a sensitive soul), which stopped when I showed her the cookie cutter. She kept all the dough on the mat which really made the clear up quick.  More playdough sessions soon.

(Luath is 15 months)