While my February Break Guide encourages families to adventure out of the house, I also recognize that it’s not always possible for us to leave the house with our kids.
I’ve been there with an illness arriving into our house just in time for vacation! And while I’m a teacher so my time off matches my daughter, I also recognize that many parents must work during this week.
So…whatever your reason may be for needing to stay home this week, I have a fun budget-friendly play dough activity that, with a little prep work, offers up endless hours of play right in the home!
And…a huge bonus here is that, with proper care, this play dough and bonus activity will last for many months, or in our house years! My daughter still loves when I put together a fun play dough activity for her!
Homemade Play Dough:
I can take NO CREDIT for the recipe below. I received this recipe as part of a children’s event put on by Birth Roots many years ago and…it’s a FANTASTIC recipe! I like to triple the recipe so I can make enough for a couple batches of different colored dough. And, if you buy the ingredients listed here, you will have PLENTY of it to make play dough in the future.
- Ingredients:
- Flour
- Cooking Oil
- Cream of Tartar
- Food Coloring (you are going to want to make blue, green, and brown (or natural) play doughs for the bonus activity below)
- Salt (you will need two of these if doing more than 3 batches)
When dough is completely cool, I like to wrap it in plastic wrap and then seal it in a plastic baggie until ready for use.
Now, if making homemade play dough is not your jam, need not worry. If you are a local Mainer, hit up your local Reny’s for some good deals on the Play-Doh brand.
Winter Woodland Themed Sensory Playscape:
If you want to elevate your homemade play dough and try your knack at creating a sensory playscape, here is one that my daughter LOVED!
For this activity, you will need the playdough you made earlier and the following items:
- Cookie Sheet
- Woodland Creatures
- Fencing
- Ice Cubes
- Snow Balls
- Bottle Cleaner Trees
- Shelter
You can absolutely substitute any of the above items with things you have around your household and….anything you can find around the house is going to reduce the cost of this activity!
One of the things I do with the supplies to help keep the costs down for me is to keep these supplies out of the regular play bins. This helps me turn a “winter playscape” into a “spring social” or “summertime soiree” theme.
Below is a “recipe” of sorts for how to put this activity together.
- On the cookie sheet, create a landscape that includes creating a stream with the blue playdough, some grassy areas with the green playdough and some dirt/hill with the brown/natural playdough. Also, leave a little playdough on the side so your kiddo can add what they want to the playscape.
- Add the animal figurines. Grab them from your kiddo’s bins, or if you need a themed set or a refresh of animals, I love these ones.
- Add some fencing (kids love fences!) in the dirt/natural areas and some trees. If you want to add shelter, I love using party hats and creating an opening for creatures to move in and out of.
- Add some ice to the stream.
- Add a bowl of snow (cotton snow balls) on the side.
- The last step here is KEY: KEEP IT SIMPLE. The more simple this playscape is, the more imagination play can happen. As much as it is tempting to add all the animals, ice cubes or cotton snow balls to the playscape, a less is more approach encourages creativity and problem solving. And, if I’m being honest, it encourages them to play with the sensory activity longer than if the creativity was supplied for them.
- To use this playscape over multiple days, be sure to add/take away things each day to give it a refresh. *Be sure, if you are leaving your playdough on a cookie sheet, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.
Cost Breakdown:
- Homemade Play Dough: $20
- Sensory Playscape: $55 (for everything linked) You will likely have many of these things around the house and the more you can use from home, the more budget-friendly this activity will be.
Homemade play dough is a very budget-friendly and fun way to bring some sensory play into your home! Add in a playscape with as many materials sourced from inside your home as you can, and you will find an activity that fosters imaginative play, creativity, and interest that can last for hours.
Stay tuned for more indoor activities to drop all week long!
Happy Vacation Week! ~Natalie
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