Christmas Playdough Recipe

Christmas Recipe for Play - Christmas Scented Playdough

As the sun goes down on this Thanksgiving day it's officially time to retire our fall playdough and whip up a batch of Christmas playdough to get into the holiday spirit!  Of course playdough has nothing to do with the spirit of Christmas, but studies have proven that the sense of smell triggers memories and emotions.  For this reason we engage in seasonal sensory play throughout the year, and you can expect several Christmas recipes for play from us this month.  One of the easiest ways to incorporate scented sensory play into each season is by making scented playdough!  It's easy, and it lasts for the whole season and often far beyond.  Our Christmas playdough recipe is our softest playdough yet, thanks to some tips from my readers!

How to Make Christmas Playdough

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Base Recipe Ingredients:

• flour
• salt
• cream of tartar
• cooking oil
• boiling water

Optional Extras:

• pine essential oil
• peppermint essential oil
• vanilla extract
• liquid watercolor paint or food coloring
• glitter or Make it Glitter

Directions:  For each recipe I combined 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup salt, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in my Kitchenaid mixer.  I use the dough hook and mix the ingredients on a medium low speed.  I add 3/4 cup boiling water at the same time I add liquid watercolors and glitter.  Then I leave the Kitchenaid to do its magic and knead the dough.  Occasionally I have to scrape the sides of the mixer with a spatula.

If you do not have a Kitchenaid mixer mix all the ingredients in a bowl then add the boiling water.  Once cool enough to touch, knead with your hands.  Also, put a Kitchenaid mixer on your Christmas list.  :)

White:  I added 1-2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.  I didn't measure.  I also added a small amount of white liquid watercolor paint.  This isn't necessary, but it makes the white a true white.

Green:  I used a couple drops of pine essential oil and combined lime and green liquid watercolor paint to get the shade I desired.  Food coloring can also be used.

Red:  I put a couple drops of peppermint essential oil in the mix.  I used a lot of red food coloring to get the vibrant red I wanted.  Due to the amount of liquid I added, I needed to put another 1/4 cup of flour in this batch.

I used Make it Glitter from Discount School Supply in all the batches.  I just kept adding it until I liked the amount of shimmer.  Regular glitter can also be used.

For more Christmas recipes for play follow me on Pinterest.

More Christmas ideas:

Candy Cane Puffy Paint ~ Simple Manger Craft ~ Peppermint Shaving Cream Play