Floyd has been working on the weekends which means I am parenting on my own. Today was just a draining day with our three kids. I felt like I was constantly serving them without being able to relax. Grayson wanted breakfast, Teigan wanted to play blocks, Livi was following me around rambling something about choir. Once I pushed through that wave and went to sit down…Grayson wanted something else to eat, Teigan wanted a bubble bath and Livi was now following me rambling about having nothing to wear. Ugh, these waves seemed endless and I just wanted to relax! Ever have one of those days? Non-stop servitude to your kids – I felt so done! Then Teigan began crying over crumbling old play dough. So I walked into the kitchen with my three kids following behind and whipped up some pumpkin scented playdough. What happened next surprised me.
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If You Make it, They Will Come!
I pulled out the ingredients and began mixing them in a saucepan. The kids were all curious as to what the heck I was making and asked all the questions (and I will answer them later for you). Of course, Teigan cried to help and I let her stir the mixture until it formed a big ball. I then broke the ball into 3 pieces and had the kids knead it by hand. It wasn’t intentional but without even knowing it everyone was working on ONE task. I wasn’t being pulled in 3 different directions. Finally, some relief! Afterwards I brought out the cookie cutters and brought the pumpkin scented play dough to the living room table where they could play and watch television. Livi ended up chatting with one of her friends and gave my ears a break from all the tween drama. It was a couple hours of freedom that I needed and appreciated so I thought I’d share this #momwin in case you need something to do with the kids or looking for a little break.
Pumpkin Scented Playdough
The Ingredients
The ingredients are very simple. Flour, salt, cream of tarter, pumpkin spice, water and food coloring. It’s the season for all things pumpkin so I had all these things on hand. Since it was pumpkin scented I mixed red and yellow for a light orange color. This pumpkin scented playdough smells delish but don’t try to lick your fingers because it is definitely NOT edible. If you haven’t tried this playdough recipe, it is a real winner. It is super soft, moldable and super easy to make in a matter of minutes.
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup salt
- 2 tsp cream of tarter
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup Water
- food coloring (enough for the color consistency you desire)
Directions
Save on dishes and toss everything straight into a saucepan. Stir until everything is combined and free from lumps. Turn your stovetop on medium and stir continuously until it starts to clump into one big ball. Remove from heat and knead by hand. Be careful not to overcook because it will dry out.
Storage
You can store play dough in a zip-lock bag or an air tight container. Both options have worked well with us.
Tips
Too dry – If you accidentally overcook your playdough try kneading some extra oil into the mixture. Simply, place oil on your hands and knead the dough.
Too Sticky – If your dough somehow becomes too sticky, sprinkle a little flour on the table and kneading it into the dough.
Keep it Just Right – Make sure to store your playdough in an airtight container and it will last a long time.
Add More Fun to Playdough
Kids love playdough and will often spend hours with it. But sometimes they can get bored so try adding in some extra fun like:
Themed Playdough mats – add an educational element to their playtime with themed playdough mats. You can even create some cool ones using Canva or laminating a page from their coloring book. For example with my toddler, I created number apple trees. We roll out the number of apples to the tree. I will place a link to that soon. In the meantime just email me and I will send it to you.
Try different scents – Apples, fir trees, sugar cookies, ginger bread are good for the holidays.
Make it a Kit – throw in some themed cookie cutters with the scented playdough and you pretty much prepped the runway for your child’s imagination to take flight.
Commonly Asked Questions
Q. Why Do You Need Salt For Playdough?
A. Salt is used as a preservative in making playdough.
Q. Do I need to use cream of tarter in my playdough or can I omit it?
A. Yes, you can probably omit the cream of tarter BUT I don’t recommend it. Cream of tarter is used as a preservative much like salt but it is also used for elasticity and stretch. If you want to minimize crumbles and mess then you want to use the cream of tarter.
Q. Can you omit the salt?
A. Yes, the playdough will still be moldable and soft but won’t last as long.
Q. Will the food coloring stain my child’s hands?
A. I used the gel food coloring and it did not stain our hands. I’m not sure about liquid food coloring. If you try liquid food coloring let me know and I will update this response for future readers.
Q. How much does this batch make?
A. This playdough recipe makes about 2 cups.
Q. How long does it take to make?
A. It’s about 10 minutes total. 5 minutes to prep and 5 minutes to cook and knead.
Fun Fact
The creation of play-doh was almost accidental. As the story goes, play-doh began as a wallpaper cleaner. It was a putty like substance used to roll over soot stains to get the stains off of wallpaper. However, with the transition of heat to electric and less dirtier heating sources the wallpaper cleaning company was struggling to stay relevant and it’s future seemed bleak.
Joseph McVicker was trying to turn around the struggling company when his sister-in-law read an article about how wallpaper cleaner could be used for modeling projects. His sister-in-law Kay Zufall, a nursery school teacher, tested the nontoxic material with children, who loved molding it into all kinds of shapes. She also suggested changing the name to Play-Doh and the rest is history!
Did You Try This Pumpkin Scented Playdough Recipe?
Let me know how your experience went with this recipe and whether your littles ones loved it just as much as mine do. Comment below or tag me on Instagram I love seeing other mamas sharing their mom wins and cute pictures of their kids.
