This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I appreciate your support of my blog!
My kids love play dough and despite it always making a huge mess all over my dining room floor, they have so much fun and it is so worth it. They stay engaged for literal HOURS sometimes…which is why I have come to love it too! 😉
While we do get store-bought from time to time, it definitely enhances the play and leads to more learning when they help to make it homemade.
What makes this recipe special is the added scent. Something about play dough smelling warm and cozy like fall instead of like plastic or flour and salt just enhances the play. In this recipe, we went with a harvest essential oil blend, just 2 drops is all you need (see notes in recipe). You can also use pumpkin pie spice.
To make this time even more engaging, we love using play dough mats. The ones shown below include a bible verse on each which I love to help stimulate conversation around thankfulness for God’s provision. These mats get the kids started with what to make and then creativity takes over from there.
While you can totally create these at home, we do sell a printable PDF version in our TPT shop. You can find these fall mats and several other varieties there.
I have found that some of the best conversations happen when my kids are engaged in play, and play dough is no exception.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (spoon and level method)
- 1 cup salt
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
- Food coloring (optional)
- Essential oil (optional)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (optional)
How to make it
- In a medium pot, mix together flour, salt and cream of tartar.
- Add in your water and oil and mix. At this point, it should be a thick pancake batter consistency. If doing all one color, you can add your food coloring now, otherwise wait.
- Place over medium heat and cook 5-10 minutes until it starts to thicken. I recommend a wooden spatula to scrap the bottom so it doesn’t burn (do not stop stirring or walk away). Once it starts to form a dough ball and doesn’t stick to your spatula too much, remove from the heat.
- Let it cool just until you can handle it and begin to knead the dough. This is where you can add in your pumpkin pie spice. If using essential oils instead, I recommend starting with 2 drops mixed with a half teaspoon of canola or vegetable oil and then knead into the dough.
- At this point, you can also knead in your food coloring. If doing multiple colors, simply divide the dough first. From my experience, best to wear gloves for this step. Once mixed in thoroughly, we did not have any color transfer onto hands. I recommend trying several different color combos and see if your kids can guess how the colors will turn out once mixed in. Mine had so much fun with this part, especially since I forgot to put gloves on and got all messy.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
Sign up for our monthly newsletter below!
