Taste safe Play Dough for sensory exploration

Play dough is a child hood staple and one that can be played with at any time in the year, but we really love mixing it up in the Winter months with spices such as nutmeg and cinammon and now in the Summer love using all of those fresh herbs now growing in your back garden.

To create this taste safe play dough you will need:

• 2 Cups Plain Flour (240g)

• 3 Tablespoons (Tbsp) of Oil

• 1/2 cup of Water (125ml)

• Food Colouring or paint/herbs of your choice - Rosemary, lavender and mint work well!

• Mixing bowl(s)

Steps:

1. Pick the herbs together outside. Enjoy talking about their texture, smell and appearance - this is all great for language formation even when they are babies!

2. Combine the flour, herbs and 3 Tbsp oil in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add a few drops of food colouring or of paint mixture to the water then add to the mix.

4. Stir well until combined and begin to knead hard with your hands, if you find it is still too dry add a little more water - only a tiny bit at a time.

5. Knead well for at least a few minutes until the mixture is no longer sticky. This is the most important part to making playdough - the kneading!

6. This mixture will not keep as well as the traditional salt mixture, so ensure you store playdough in an airtight container when not playing with it and use within 2 weeks or make a fresh batch if it looks particularly dirty.

Then enjoy playing with the dough. Try using cookie cutters, rollers and toy animals to create shapes and patterns or even something as simple as toilet rolles!

We would love to see how you get on so don't forget to tag us on socials in your photos @NatureMakers