Autumn Scented Playdough Recipe for Sensory Play
Inside: This homemade autumn scented playdough recipe is wonderfully aromatic, a fall feast for the senses!
We love to make homemade playdough – it’s a whole lot cheaper than its commercially produced counterpart and making your own also means that you can easily enhance the sensory nature of the dough by experimenting with different combinations of scents, textures and colors, as can be seen in our collection of twelve best homemade playdough recipes.
Autumn Scented Playdough Recipe
The combination of spices and citrus used in this blend makes this dough an aromatic fall inspired feast for the senses. My four year old really enjoyed grinding the cloves and combining them with the nutmeg and cinnamon in our mortar and pestle – in fact, she loves to measure out all of the playdough ingredients and add them to the pot. Making homemade playdough is a great way to involve young children in cooking.
The recipe located below is an adaptation of the simple, never-fail cooked playdough recipe that I have used for years as both a parent and a kindergarten teacher.
Once your dough is ready add a selection of buttons, feathers, fake flowers or dried flower petals along with cookie cutters and a small rolling pin and let the sensory play begin!
Autumn Scented Playdough Recipe
Materials
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 cup salt
- 2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 3/4 cups water
- Liquid food coloring - we used a combination of yellow and red to make orange
- 12 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1-2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup citrus juice - mandarin, orange or lemon
- Zest of one lemon, finely grated
Tools
- Mortar and pestle
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Saucepan
- Wooden spoon
Instructions
- Prepare the spice and citrus blend by grinding the cloves with a mortar and pestle and then mixing through the cloves with the other dry spices.
- Place all ingredients into a large saucepan. Stir constantly over a medium heat until the mixture congeals and forms a ball, approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Continue to heat for a further 1-2 minutes, constantly turning over the ball of dough.
- Remove from heat and knead until the dough is smooth.
Notes
- Homemade playdough is best stored wrapped securely in an airtight plastic bag.
For more homemade playdough fun, check out these great recipes;