We love making our own playdough – but just a warning, it’s addictive! Once you realize all the stuff you can add (scented oils, glitter, color, herbs), you’ll want to keep experimenting. See Our Favorite Playdough Recipe, below.
Our Sparkly, Cinnamon Scented, Homemade Autumn Playdough
For an autumn themed playdough we decided to make orange with cinnamon (for smell) and red glitter (cause once you add glitter there’s no going back!)
We got out our halloween themed cookie cutters from our collection. You can get a set of 101 plastic cookie cutters, including all letters, numbers and many holiday shapes, for around $15. The plastic ones are great because they’re not too sharp. Alas, there aren’t any leaf shaped cookie cutters in our set, but there are 2 sizes of pumpkin shapes.
I got out a little bowl of coffee beans so T could make jack-o-lantern faces. I stole this idea from Counting Coconuts (they used dried black beans). This was T’s favorite part, I think.
I really wanted leaves, so I used a plastic knife to cut my own. Plastic knives are lots of fun with any playdough – and it’s good fine motor / cutting practice, too.
We tried to model a 3D pumpkin on our real pumpkin. My attempt at explaining the difference between 2D and 3D was lost on the 3-year-old, however.
Our Favorite Playdough Recipe
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 Tbsp cream of tartar
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1 cup water
- food coloring or liquid watercolor
- optional: glitter, cooking extracts, essential oils, herbs, spices or whatever – be creative!
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl; mix the wet ingredients* together in a bowl, and then mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the dough pulls away from the side of the pan. This only takes a couple of minutes. Now is the time to knead in your colors and add-ins. Careful, it’s hot!
*You can add the color to the water at the beginning, which prevents stained hands from the kneading.
More Autumn Themed Sensory Activities
- Autumn Sensory Bin and Autumn Playdough at Pre-School Play.
- Halloween Sensory Tub and Playdough at Counting Coconuts
- Fall Sensory Tub at Totally Tots
- Pumpkin Spice Playdough Recipe at No Ordinary Moments
- Cinnamon No-Cook Playdough at NurtureStore
- September Sensory Tub at Carrots are Orange
Do you have any ideas for preschool sensory play? Comments and links are welcome!
