How to Make Pumpkin Pie Spice Playdough

October is the perfect time to make this homemade pumpkin pie spice playdough recipe for your kids! It’s super soft and squishy and smells just like pumpkin pie! This is the best at home, after school activity for kids of all ages!

Why Make Playdough?

One my kid’s favorite activities is playdough. It’s part of the reason why I started making and selling playdough kits online. I loved how it immediately calmed by energetic twins and it was something my older daughter and younger twins could play with together. However, I didn’t like the texture and crumbliness of store bought playdough so I set to develop my own recipe. I came up with the best, squishiest recipe ever and can’t wait to share it with you.

The other reasons to make your own playdough is because of the benefits it can have on cognitive development. Playing with playdough:

encourages the development of fine and gross motor skills;
supports language development;
can calm and relieve anxiety;
promotes and strengthens memory; and
helps develop the nerve connections the brain requires for higher learning.

Here are some ways to play with Pumpkin Pie Spice Scented Playdough

use with playdough mats
use with play pie pans
incorporate leaves and sticks to make playdough pumpkin
add cinnamon sticks
add rolling pins and other bakery play utensils
add red, brown and green pipe cleaners to create stems for the pumpkins

Looking for the BEST homemade playdough recipe? Check out this post here.

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Playdough Recipe

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, salt, cream of tartar and pumpkin pie spice. Mix to combine using the spoon.
In a measuring cup, combine the 1 cup of boiling water, red food colouring and oil. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of boiling water separately later as needed.
Add the boiling water mixture to the flour mixture a small amount at a time and mix until you have reached the desired consistency. If you are using a stand mixer, add the water as the mixer is turning.
Add the rest of the boiling water as needed until your dough is soft and not sticky (ie. It should not be sticking to your hands). If you add too much water it will be come sticky. If that happens, not to worries, simply add more flour and continue to mix until it is no longer sticky.
Add additional orange food colouring, if desired.
If kneading by hand, let the mixture cool before you pick it up and knead it. Wear gloves to prevent food coloring staining your hands. Continue kneading until it is smooth and no longer sticking to your counter.
If using a stand mixer let it continue to mix on high until it starts to form a dough ball and all the ingredients have been picked up from the sides.
Knead, knead, knead. Knead it until all its smooth, squishy and soft! The key to soft playdough is to continue kneading the ingredients together.

How to Store Your Pumpkin Spice Playdough

Store your playdough in an airtight resealable container such as a ziplock bag or any storage container with a lid. Storing it in this way allows it to last for up to 6 months! Toss if you see mold.

Age Suitability

This activity is good for toddlers, pre-k, kindergarten aged children 3 years old and up. My kids are 4.5, 4.5 and 8 years old.

Mess Level

The mess level for this activity is low.

Difficulty to Create

Easy to Medium.

Skills Developed

Sensory play, language development, number recognition, color recognition, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, imaginative play, creativity.

Supplies for Pumpkin Spice Playdough

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2 cups of white all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
1 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice
1.5 cup of boiling water
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
Orange food coloring (use gel food colouring if you have it)
Stand mixer with dough hook or large bowl and spoon

Books, TV Show & Play Kits!

Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.

Find out more and grab your copy here.

Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.

Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids

Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles that show them how to think outside the box.

350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.

Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!

Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.

TV Show: Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to finally share my new crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched July 1 at on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube!

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up. https://youtu.be/1e2Lxm2eqOM

The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!

Shop our ready made play kits here.