Strawberry Playdough

Welcome back for another month of  12 Months of Sensory Dough Recipes where several bloggers get together to share the exciting sensory dough recipes and a variety of twists and turns. It is our hope that you will have a one-stop resource for all things Sensory dough!

This month we are featuring a huge list of playdoughs from no-cook to microwaved and everything in between. We had fun playing with Strawberry Playdough!

One of Numnut's favourite jokes is that I can make anything into playdough. I've made playdough from tea, spices, herbs, vegetables and fruit.

When it came time to make this month's sensory dough, I just so happened to have a punnet of strawberry tops in the freezer, waiting patiently to be made into playdough.

To invite the girls to play with the playdough I simply placed the playdough, some red and black gems, a few stalks of rosemary and a handful of strawberry tops.

I didn't have to wait long for the girls to show an interest in the playdough.

As soon as Squiggles caught sight of the playdough she ran inside to get a knife and then came back and began chopping it up.

Bubbles was just as enthusiastic but was content to simply create with the items in the tray. Carefully shaping her dough and creating a 'strawberry' with 'dots' and 'green stuff'.

Both girls even took the play one step further than I'd intended and asked permission to nibble on the strawberry tops!

I ended up leaving the dough and tray out for two weeks (minus the strawberry tops!) as the girls kept revisiting the playdough and finding new ways to enjoy it.

How to make your own Strawberry Playdough:

You will need:
Approx. 1 punnet of strawberry tops
2 cups of water
1 cup plain flour (we used gluten free)
2tbs Cream of Tartar
1/2 cup salt
1tbs cooking oil

Method:
Begin by placing your strawberry tops and water into a medium sized saucepan.
Bring to boil on medium heat and simmer (stirring constantly) until the liquid has reduced by half.
Remove from heat and strain liquid to remove strawberry tops.
Add plain flour, cream of tartar, salt and cooking oil to strawberry water.
Stir over medium heat for 3-5minutes or until the mixture congeals.
Remove from heat and dump on a lightly floured bench and cool slightly.
Once cool enough to touch, knead until smooth.
Store in an airtight container.

Now for the fun part…

Would you call this recipe and activity a success or a fail? Would you try this recipe or have you tried another? We want to see! You can share pictures to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Google+. Tag your pictures with #ilovesensorydough.

Be sure to check out each blogger, as we will each provide a different take on the dough, some of us with have the BEST recipe ever, while others will show you our attempts (both failed and successful).

Inspiring Dragon Playdough Fun with Great Music | Witty Hoots

Sensory Fun With This Easy to Make Buttercup Playdough| Peakle Pie

Color Surprise Playdough | Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tail

Fruit-Scented Play Dough | Study at Home Mama

Strawberry Playdough | Squiggles and Bubbles

For more activities like this check out my new book Learn with Play. It’s a collaborative work, written by myself and 93 other amazing bloggers, mothers, teachers and early childhood educators. The e-book comes with links to over 300 activities!

 Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.  You know you're infant/child best, use your own judgement-considering your infant/child's temperament, habits, behaviour and development before you play with a new play medium.