Simple Homemade Fall-Scented Playdough Recipes

Make the fall season special by making homemade fall-scented playdough. In this post, you’ll learn how to make your favorite autumn fragrances, like cinnamon, pumpkin pie, and apple pie into playdough. Try this easy homemade playdough recipe with a few twists to make them fall play dough recipes. If this is your first time making homemade playdough, don’t worry, it is super simple. Once you try one of these recipes you’ll want to try the rest of them and you’ll probably never buy store-bought playdough again.

Ingredients You Need to Make Homemade Playdough

Flour – All-purpose works great for this. Bleached or unbleached is just fine.

Salt – Use any fine-grain salt you want, but iodized or sea salt works well. I usually go with the cheapest option since it is not for consumption. 

Oil – You can use any oil. I used basic vegetable oil but melted coconut oil can also work.

Cream of Tartar – This is needed to help make the dough stronger and stiffer. It also gives playdough that elasticity characteristic we all love. I recommend getting a large bag of this. It is much more cost-effective than getting the small containers at the grocery store. 

Cinnamon – Use ground cinnamon for this. 

Pumpkin Pie Spice – Use pumpkin pie spice or mix up your own mix with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Apple Pie Spice – Purchase apple pie spice or you can use cinnamon and nutmeg to make your own, this is what I did and it turned out great!

Essential Oils – Alternatively, you can use drops of essential oils to create your scented playdough. You could add cinnamon bark and other fall scents to create more seasonal playdough recipes.

Food Coloring– This recipe is for liquid food coloring drops. Adjust as needed for your type of food coloring. You can also use gel food coloring. 

Autumn Fall Playdough Scents

When I think of fall, I think of all the different scents like cinnamon, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. Try one of these fall-scented playdough recipes to elevate your child’s play this season.

Cinnamon Playdough

Ingredients

• 1 cup of flour 
• 1/2 cup of salt 
• 1 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon (or 1-3 drops of cinnamon bark essential oil)
• 6 drops of red, 5 drops of yellow, and 1 drop of blue food coloring to make brown dough

Apple Pie Playdough

Ingredients

• 1 cup of flour 
• 1/2 cup of salt 
• 1 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg (or 1 tablespoon of apple pie spice)
• 10 drops of red food coloring

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Pumpkin Pie Playdough

Ingredients

• 1 cup of flour 
• 1/2 cup of salt 
• 1 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 3 drops of red and 7 drops of yellow food coloring (or a couple of drops of orange food coloring if you have it)

How to Make Homemade Playdough

Making your own playdough is so easy and brings so much fun for your children. Follow this basic recipe and then adjust the add-ins based on what scent you want to make. 

Measure out the water and then add food coloring to the water. Mix the water and food coloring before adding the oil.

Measure out and combine the dry ingredients: flour, salt, cream of tartar, and the needed spices for the particular fall-scented playdough you want to make into your saucepan.

Add dry and wet ingredients into the saucepan.

Heat your saucepan over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until it all begins to solidify and come together. As it heats, it may get a little lumpy, but this is okay. This process only takes a few minutes, so don’t walk away from your stove!

Once it comes together, scoop it out of the pan onto some parchment paper on your counter. Knead the playdough to help it cool off a bit. If you forgot to add in any of your food coloring or add-ins, you can do it at this point, but it will be harder to incorporate.

Allow playdough to cool a little bit and then store in a zip-lock bag or an airtight container.

Why Make Homemade Playdough?

Making a batch of playdough is so easy to do at home. It just takes a few pantry staples and a few minutes to create hours of fun for a child. I started making homemade playdough becasue I liked that I could make a big batch of it cheaply and it has lasted for such a long time. I still have playdough from over 6 months ago that has been stored in a plastic bag and is in perfect condition! 

How Long Will My Playdough Last?

I have playdough that has lasted over 6 months when stored in a zip-lock bag. You can also store it in an airtight container. 

Benefits of Playdough for Children

Young kids enjoy the creativity and sensory activity that playdough provides. This seasonal play dough is a great way for them to explore fall colors and expereince the new season with different scents like pumpkin pie and cinnamon. Playdough gives opportunities to develop fine motor skills by rolling, stamping, squeezing, and creating all sorts of fun with their hands. Playdough is also a great way for imaginative play to come into our homes. 

How to Store Playdough for Independent Play

The best way to store fall-scented playdough is in zip-lock bags or an airtight container. I found some small condiment containers at the dollar store that are perfect for small portions of playdough. I like to store playdough in these containers and add it to a collection of other supplies and add-ins for the playdough. Include miniature rolling pins, cookie cutters, playdough scissors, and seasonal press-ins. Cinnamon sticks and mini pumpkins from the craft store would be great things to add to your child’s playdough kit. You could even go right outside and collect pine cones and sticks to add to the seasonal activity. There is no better way to support independent play than by creating a playdough kit for your child.