The Gospels in Playdough contains 73 stories about Jesus. Each story is set out in a way that guides the parent or teacher through the process of engaging their children. The appendix contains more examples and a recipe for playdough.

Rev’d Neil Millar, a lecturer at St. Mark’s National Theological Centre, has described that book as “a creative and enjoyable way of introducing children in their most formative years to the life-changing story of Jesus”.

Visit  The Gospels in Playdough website. Judyth has some copies of the book for $20 each, or it can be ordered through the Koorong website.

Ingredients:
1 cup plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon mixed spice
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tablespoon milk

1. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together and pour into flour   mixture.  Add milk.
3. Mix well to form a dough. Leave if possible to cool down to room    temperature (preferably overnight).  Dough will keep in sealed container in fridge for a month.
4. Knead dough on a lightly floured board, then roll out to ½ cm thick or roll between fingers.
5. Cut out shapes, decorate with rainbow choc chips or cachous or currants, then bake on Gladbake in a 200° oven for 10 minutes or until beginning to brown.

The mixture should have the consistency of playdough and be easy for children to manipulate.  The created biscuits can be moulded without cutters or rolled and cut with cutters.  They taste delicious and look very good decorated with colourful dots or traditional currants and if decorated before baking, are ready to eat without further icing etc.  If using icing after baking, buy the tubes of coloured icing to enable young children to manipulate it successfully.

Note:  this is a good recipe for children with egg or milk allergies as it doesn’t contain egg and a milk substitute can be used.

1 cup salt
2 cups plain flour
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar
2 cups boiling water
food colouring if required

Method: Combine ingredients (except water) in a bowl. Pour the boiling water in and stir. Knead lightly on a table top. Store in plastic bag – will keep for weeks.

Microwave Playdough

2 cups plain flour
1 cup salt
1 tablespoon Cream of Tartar
2 cups cold water
1 tablespoon cooking oil
food colouring if required

Method: Beat ingredients together well, place in large bowl, cover and cook 4 – 5 minutes on high. Knead into a ball when cooled. Store in a plastic bag – will keep for months.

Uncooked Playdough

1 cup salt
½ cup water
1 ½ cups plain flour
2 tablespoon cooking oil
food colouring

Method: Mix all together, knead until smooth. Will keep a few days in plastic bag in fridge.

Stretchy Playdough

½ kg self-raising flour
250 ml water

Method: Mix together then knead until smooth. Will not keep.

Baking Playdough (Not edible)

½ cup salt
1 cup flour
¾ cup water
glycerine

Method: Mix flour and salt in bowl, add water gradually to make a stiff dough. Add more flour to avoid stickiness. Add 2 drops glycerine for a really smooth dough. Can be made into shapes and
baked on a low heat for 1-2 hours to make decorations.

Bumpy Playdough (for 3D pictures)

¾ cup plain flour
¼ cup salt
water
powder paint
several containers for colours
cardboard for base

Method: Make dough with first 3 ingredients. Put different colours of powder paint in containers and divide dough into portions and add to paint. To make 3D pictures, shape different coloured doughs before sticking it onto to the cardboard.

Playclay

1 cup cornflour
1 ½ cups cold water
2 cups bicarbonate of soda

Method: Mix until smooth in microwave safe bowl, then microwave on high for 4 – 5 minutes stirring occasionally until it looks like mashed potatoes. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to cool then knead. Use as a modelling clay to make small objects and decorations. Don’t forget to add holes to decorations to be hung. Dry by leaving a few days on a foam tray, then paint. Mixture will keep in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Cornflour Slime

2 cups cornflour
few drops of food colouring
water

Method: Add water gradually until you have a smooth, runny mixture which can be dribbled on paper to make pictures or just played with for fun. If pushed down it should feel solid, if allowed to pour it should appear to flow like a liquid.

Cornflour Glue

2 tablespoons cornflour
2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup boiling water

Method: In a bowl mix cornflour and cold water to a thin paste. Then add boiling water and stir very fast. It should form a white glue like Clag. If it fails to do so, put mixture in the microwave for a minute on high and stir vigorously again.