Almond Spice Playdough

The twins and I have really been enjoying the turn of the seasons this year, and last week we had some chilly weather (by central Texas standards, anyway) to remind us that Old Man Winter is coming, even though the Fall Fairies are still working on the leaves. During our weekly grocery trip, we were excited to discover big bags of whole mixed nuts in the seasonal produce- I’ve been waiting for weeks to get my hands on some to explore with the littles! As you can imagine, much nuttiness ensued, and will continue to ensue, throughout the holiday season. Here is the first of a series of nutty activities to come…Almond Spice Playdough.

Our Almond Spice Playdough is a hybrid of a basic playdough recipe and the spices from my favorite almond spice cookies. It smells AMAZING and I can tell you that the fragrance has gotten better and better with each passing day.

One one particularly blustery afternoon I presented the spicy dough to the twins along with a tray full of nuts, sticks, and autumn leaves to explore. All of the different textures, smells, and colors were a treat for the senses.

Syd in particular loves anything scented, so she spent lots of time sniffing and exclaiming over the dough. And eventually declaring that she had a “mustache like Grandad,” resulting in fits of giggles from all three of us.

Then she built a fortress of sticks for the Princess and her pig, and spent several minutes fixing it up with her stick “tool.”

Will, on the other hand, built a pet store, complete with stick dwellings for his brazil nut mouse family.

See this little guy? It’s a “widdle mouse in his blanket to stay warm.” Awwww

Almond Spice Playdough Recipe:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/3 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, mix together all ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the dough thickens and begins to form a large clump around the spoon. At this point, remove from heat and turn your dough out onto a plate or wax paper to cool.

Enjoy!

The Homemade Play Dough Recipe Book

If you love play dough as much as we do, I highly recommend that you check out The Homemade Play Dough Recipe Book written by Cathy James of NurtureStore. It is a super creative e-book packed with amazing ideas regarding all things play dough, including:

• all the recipes you need for the activities in the book including non-cook and cooked play dough, gluten-free dough, salt dough, modeling dough, and real bread.
• ideas for 52 weeks of loose parts play, in a printable poster format
• a whole year of play dough activities, arranged seasonally. There’s an idea for every week of the year including sensory and imaginary play, storytelling, art ideas, small worlds, math activities, reading and writing ideas.

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