AIBU to wish people would stop using flour for play dough

[Outtedagain]

Just that. Some people, like me, want to cook with it. I have just worked out (correctly I think) from Facebook feeds featuring play dough recipes that this is contributes to there being no flour.

@ GrumpyHoonMain don’t be so obtuse. I’m not talking about people who had to live on leftovers, I’m talking about people who have nothing at all.

People who actually do starve to death, where the infant mortality is so high precisely because of malnutrition.

Where, ironically, lack of flour does mean that people will die.

In this country it really does not because there are several alternatives.

Yes, @Outtedagain

1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
food colouring
half a cup of cooking salt
1 tablespoon of cream of tartar

mix all together in the saucepan, then put on a low to medium heat and mix until it turns into playdough - then let it all cool

And this too if you want to widen your repertoire!

And someone suggested above cocoa to make it smell nice! Do you think vanilla, Caramel etc would work?

Assuming you dip in egg first?

Yes.

Oops, didn't mean to tag the OP, meant to tag @Moonahstone

If it smelled nice my DD would just scoff the whole thing I think.

I agree.

I read recently that the lack of flour in the shops is because more people are buying it to use at home and the manufacturers are struggling to cope with demand as they have set figures they usually produce to for retail. They obvoiusly produce more for wholesale but apparently it's not that easy to just switch the production lines and get more out to supermarkets etc.

Am I really reading this right, people are claiming that parents making homemade playdough with their children are;
-wasting food and flouting poverty

• preventing others from obtaining flour
• being disrespectful of famine and those without food??

Are we serious? They paid for the flour and are entitled to use it in any way they like, if they were throwing it away after having used it for nothing, that's wasteful but by making a play resource for their child that lasts weeks and means they don't purchase a mass produced chemical filled big brand consumer product then that's putting the flour to good use! Lots of food grade stuff is used in non food products.

The people here comparing using flour for playdough to people going without food need a bit of a reality check, maybe if we were in a rationed state of extreme food shortage you'd have a point, but a few people not being able to find flour to bake their own bread or cakes is not the same thing. Fgs.

Aw this reminding me of my mum making playdough when we were little - lovely happy memories :). Then she would have blue /green /red hands for a couple of days from the food colouring! I remember eating some once and it was disgusting - I think she always made it because my brother wouldn't stop eating it, and she was worried about the chemicals in shop - bought stuff. Also we lived abroad and it was hard to get stuff like that.

• entirely misses point of thread sorry!

@Outtedagain do you not have children?

I bough a bag of flour incase I couldn't get hold of any glue.

Argh, pressed the wrong button. YABU!
Flour for play dough is utterly wasteful.
Most children have toys aplenty, and flour is a valuable food commodity at the moment.
I have searched for three weeks to try to find plain flour, and finally found some, and it was rationed to one kilo per customer.
I carried it home triumphantly, and realised how much pleasure can come from buying something so rare....
Flour ought to be rationed, as it is so hard to get. Please don't waste it for ''play''. At least bake with it.

Most children have toys aplenty

And most people have plenty of food that doesn't require flour.

Dunno where you all life that you’re all wetting your kecks over supply chains and bags of flour but where I live there’s loads of everything

There is plenty of food in the supermarkets, maybe not what you normally eat because there are supply and demand issues but still lots of food. To imply that we are at the stage where we can’t make play dough because it is some sort of sacrilege of a precious resource is just ridiculous and sanctimonious.

If every single one of those playdough makers bought flour and used it ONLY for baked goods - has that actually changed YOUR situation on obtaining flour?

No. Makes zero difference what it’s used for, you still either will or will not be able to get hands on flour due to supply chains.

So ultimately, why does it matter how it’s used? There’s plenty of food in the supermarket. Eat something else.

It's just something we have to suck up. I wish people would stop baking cakes on lockdown as I want eggs to scramble to feed my autistic ds, who is begging for them. But, I can't expect people not to bake so we have no eggs and have to suck it up.

There isn't a shortage is there?

Thanks a lot for this thread. I had no idea you can make play dough with flour. I will give it a go tomorrow ❤️

Thank you category12

Most children have toys aplenty
And most, if not all people don't need home-baked goods!

and most people have plenty of food that doesn't require flour

I think the food banks that reportedly half the nation relied on before this, that no-one is donating to now, would say different.

And the families who use food banks probably don't have shed loads of toys either so I'm not entirely sure what the point you are trying to make is.

I think there is a link between corona and obesity, so flour should defo be used for playdough rather than making cakes for chubbies.