For Abby's party, I made some pumpkin playdough for the kids to play with. It included pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon so that it really did smell like a yummy pie! I am a lover of homemade playdough, but this is my first time making pumpkin. Here's my tried and true recipe!
Materials
2 cups flour1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
pumpkin pie spice (Caleb just shook a bunch in until it smelled "pumpkiny!"
cinnamon (no measuring here either)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups water
Food coloring (we used 6 drops of red and 15 drops of yellow)
Instructions
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a nonstick saucepan.
2. Add the oil to 1 cup of water and pour over mix.
3. Add food coloring to the second cup of water and add to the mixture.
4. Whisk until smooth.
5. Stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, cook the mixture over medium heat until it forms a ball--about 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Turn the dough onto a counter, let it cool slightly, then knead the dough until it has a smooth texture--about 1 minute.
4. When it's cool, put the dough in a Lock and Lock container for freshness. Trust me--I've tried Ziploc bags and other plastic containers. The L & L keeps it from drying out.
I made another batch to use as favors for the kids. I got this idea off of Family Fun, which is one of my favorite websites for crafts. (Their magazine is awesome too!)
I took about a fist's worth of pumpkin dough and made it into a ball so that it looked like a pumpkin.
Then, I pushed a piece of spinach spiral pasta (the green ones) into the top of each ball. I just happened to have a box of veggie pasta on-hand, so I picked out the number of spinach ones I needed! Family Fun had a whole explanation about how to dye them, but this was so much easier!
I placed each pumpkin inside of one of those fold-over plastic bags, then tied the top of the bag with raffia. (You can use plastic wrap instead of bags, but I find this much easier to work with!)
Then I used a Sharpie to decorate to front of the bag like a pumpkin! Each one is a little different, which thoroughly entertained Caleb. :)
Since the bags aren't air-tight and I didn't want the playdough to dry out before the party, I put all of my little pumpkins in a L & L container. Plus, it made it very easy to carry them to the party!
I was really pleased with how they turned out. They were a big hit, and relatively easy to make. I'm going to make another batch for Caleb's preschool party. It's a fun alternative to junk food and candy, which they will have plenty of as it is! :)
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