Play Dough with a twist

Yesterday I made up some home made play dough.

I thought that I would add a bit of cinnamon and spice and color it brown to make it like cookie dough. I gave the children some baking supplies like silicone cupcake liners, pie plates, rolling pins, little bowls, measuring spoons etc. and the piece de resistance? Birthday candles!

I knew that they would like it but I was just bowled over by how much. They sat down at 2 o'clock and my daughter and niece played for 3 hours straight had a little break and played for another hour. I finally had to clear up so that we could use the table to eat supper. My dck's played too but obviously had to go home because of parents coming to get them. The kids didn't want to go home. It was fantastic. lol

We play with play dough all of the time but the little twist with the candles and baking stuff was just what the kids needed to get their imaginations going.

A couple more activities like this and we will have a some great winter afternoons!

Great idea. I use a koolaid recipe which makes the playdo smell very nice and gives it a bright colour. One of my dcMoms brought a batch of yellow playdo yesterday that she made and she used tumeric to colour it yellow.

At Xmas, I make green and red playdough. I add peppermint oil to the green and cinnamon to the red so they are Xmas colours and Xmas scents. I sometimes add coloured sugar too. You could add glitter but I don't, just incase the kiddies learning not to mouth it, ingest it.

Thanks so much for these ideas!!! This week I made some playdough and put allspice in it...it smelled great and then I gave the kids muffin tins, regular playdough tools, spoons, little pots from the play kitchen and the new spaghtetti making playdough pushers I bought. The kids played for hours on end and didn't want to do anything else! I will try to red and green with peppermint and cinnamon next :) So many ideas now...you've go tme really thinking. Thanks ladies! By the way, my homemade playdough is always so messy...it sticks to clothing etc. Does anyone have a great recipe that is not so sticky and messy?

can you post the recipe for the playdough?? i am always looking to expand my 'cookbook'

I was on a daytrip with friends yesterday and we went to a quaint village with tourist shops and I spotted chocolate with crushed candy cane in it. It gave me a great idea to put crushed candy cane in the Christmas playdo I make.

Here's my super easy no-cook recipe. I love it and so do the kids.

Koolaid Playdough

Mix together 3 cups flour, 1/2 cup salt and 2 packages of koolaid
Add 2 cups boiling water & 3 tablespoons salad oil and mix and knead until cool. Done!

This recipe keeps in a closed plastic container or freezer bag in the fridge for months.

Ok..here is my recipe that you have to cook, but it turns out like the real stuff:
Mix in a medium pot: 1 cup white flour, 1/4 cup salt, 2 Tbsp cream of tartar.
Combine and add: 1 cup water, 2 tsp vegetable food colouring, 1 Tbsp oil.

Cook over medium heat and stir (about 3 - 5 minutes). It will look like a "globby" mess but it will turn out. When it forms a ball in the center of the pot, turn it out and knead on a lightly floured surface. Store in an air-tight container or plastic bag. Edible.

I use the same recipe as Junelouise and it does rival the real stuff plus in my opinion surpass it. It keeps well in a jar with a tight lid on teh counter and does not need to be refrigerated which keeps it softer for the kids to use. Because it is all food ingredients any pot can be used and it will look stuck to the pot but filled with water it will all come off. Keep cooking and turning the glob till it looks dry on all sides. Put out on counter/I use a plastic cutting mat - and knead till it cools a bit and this makes it even more smooth. You can also use the koolaid in the water for the smell and colouring with this recipe too.

Playfelt brought up a good point. When I know we're going to play with my refrigerated playdo I set it out first thing in the morning to give it a couple of hours to warm up before the children are ready to play with it.

Me too, I use that same recipe and I love it. It turns out so nicely. I am going to try adding scents now, too. Thanks for the tips! :)