Wintergreen Homemade Play Dough
If you’re looking for a fun indoor project to do this winter, especially in the time leading up to Christmas, try out this simple wintergreen homemade play dough recipe! We used wintergreen scent and green food coloring, but you could use red and cinnamon, or any other combination of color/scent that you like best. Get creative and make several batches! It’s a great sensory activity for little ones or kids with special needs — and just plain fun for everyone.
Not only is it fun, there are so many benefits of playdough that make it an important developmental activity for kids. You can make it educational and extend the learning by using printables like these playdough shape cards, these Picasso playdough mats, and these ocean animals playdough mats. Get creative and let kids use their imaginations while working on fine motor skills! You’ll also want to check out the best play doh tools to use for extra fun.
Wintergreen Homemade Play Dough
1 cup of water
4 cups flour
3 tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups of salt
5-7 drops of wintergreen essential oil (you can add more or less depending on preferences)
Green food coloring
Directions:
1. Begin by mixing your water and the 3-5 drops of green food coloring in a bowl. Mix well.
2. Next, add the flour and salt. Mix well a paste forms.
3. Now, add the oil. Start by adding a tablespoon at a time. Remember to start small and add as needed to get the correct consistency.
4. Start kneading the mixture until a dough forms. If the dough is too sticky you can add a pinch of flour at a time until it is right. If it is too dry, you can add a teaspoon of oil or water at a time until is right.
Your wintergreen homemade play dough is now ready to be played with. It can be placed in a plastic container with lid when not in use, and should stay good for several weeks.
If you like this homemade play dough recipe, you’ll like these, too:
20+ Tried and True Homemade Play Dough Recipes
Disney’s Frozen Inspired Homemade Play Dough
Learning with Play Dough Activities
If you want to level up the fun and learning with homemade play dough, you can get over 70 pages of Hands-on-FUN with The Crafty Classroom Play Dough Activity Binder. Kids learn their ABC’s, Numbers, Shapes, and more with this creative set of a no-prep-activities. Suggested for Tots and Preschoolers who want to “do school” with their older siblings. Simply print and place inside a three-ring binder.
General Setup
This Play Dough Activity Binder is super simple to setup. Simply print the pages in order (double-sided if desired) and laminate or insert them into plastic page protectors. We recommend using page protectors that have three holes on the side for storage in a three-ring binder. Storing pages in a binder will keep them tidy and ready to use during center activities.
20 Activity Warm Up Pages
Each of these activity pages features a fun new task for students to complete. Kids work on small motor control as they manipulate the dough to complete the picture.
12 Shape Building Mats
Each shape building mat features two or three shapes for students to copy. This provides kids the opportunity to learn about the qualities (sides, corners etc…) of each shape.
26 Alphabet Mats
Each alphabet mat features the uppercase and lowercase letter. A beginning letter animal is pictured. Kids can Roll and Smash the correct letters at the bottom. Instruct them to roll a ball of dough then smash it with their thumb on top of the correct letters.
Ten Number Mats
Each number mat shows students how to form the written number. Below there is opportunity to build the number into a ten frame by rolling up balls of dough.
4 Play Dough Scenes
Kids can build upon these thematic play dough scenes to make a creative masterpiece.
Who knew making homemade play dough could be so educational? I hope you and your kids have fun with it!
Find more ideas here:
- Spring Books for Kids - March 15, 2024
- 21 St. Patrick’s Day Crafts for Kids - March 5, 2024
- 32 St. Patrick’s Day Books for Kids - March 2, 2024
