Home Made Holiday Play Dough

One thing that I used to do with my kids every holiday was to prepare Home-Made play dough that was colored or scented for the special season: If you want to try it here are a few recipes for playdough that you may like as well.

Pumpkin Pie Play Dough

5-1/2 cups flour

2 cups salt
8 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 spice container of pumpkin pie spice (about 1-1/2 oz if buying in bulk)
3/4 cup oil
orange food coloring (if you don't have orange, use 2 parts yellow, 1 part red)
4 cups water

In a large saucepan combine all ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring until all lumps are blended. Allow to cool then knead pumpking pie playdough on a lightly floured counter or table until it is smooth and of playdough consistency. Add small amounts of water or flour if needed. Store in airtight container or tightly sealed ziploc bag.
Mix all ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until all lumps disappear. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is smooth. Store in a plastic bag.

source: http://www.momsbudget.com/playtime/pumpkinpieplaydough.html

Chocolate Play Dough
1 and ¼ cups of flour

½ of a cup of cocoa powder
½ of a cup of salt
½ of a tablespoon of cream of tartar
1 and ½ tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of boiling water

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large, heavy bowl. Add the oil and boiling water to the mixture. Stir very quickly, mixing thoroughly. Once the mixture has cooled, mix it together using your hands. The dough can now be played with. When done playing with the dough, store it in an air tight container.

Gingerbread Play-Dough

1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tsp. vegetable oil
Spices--Cinnamon, Allspice, Ginger, Nutmeg
*Green and Red food coloring to make Brown (optional--the spices usually
give the dough a good Brown color.)

Mix the dry ingredients. Experiment with the spices until you get a scent and color that you like. Mix water and oil together first and then add them to the dry ingredients and stir. In a pot, cook the mixture for three to five minutes on low/medium, stirring constantly. The dough will start to pull away from the sides of the pot and stick together in a large ball. I take it out of the pan when I see a VERY faint brown skin on the dough one each side when I flip it.  Take the dough out of the pan and knead the dough until it becomes soft and smooth. Allow the dough to cool and then store it in an airtight container.

Total time to make dough: 10 minutes. This is a very quick and easy recipe and the dough turns out great! 1 batch makes about the same amount as you would find in one small tub of store bought playdough.
Recipe Source: http://www.kinderthemes.com/Gingerbread.html

Peppermint Play Dough

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cup salt
6 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 cups water
3 tablespoons oil
peppermint extract

Combine all ingredients together in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture pulls away from side of pan.  Be sure to stir constantly.  Knead and add color if desired.
This concoction will last up to three months in the refrigerator, if kept in an airtight container.

source: http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1409.html