Easy Essential Oil Christmas Playdough Recipes
We use essential oils in our home to aid in health, as aroma therapy, and now in our playdough! Essential oils are basically just very concentrated herbs. They are strong. So usually just a few drops will do the trick! If you are an essential oil user, give one of these playdough recipes a try.
Ingredients You Need to Make Homemade Playdough
This homemade playdough recipe is super easy to make and just uses a few ingredients you likely have in your pantry!
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.
Christmas Spirit Essential Oil
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.
Where to source essential oils?
I have always purchased our essential oils from Young Living. These are high-quality and well-sourced oils. Getting high-quality essential oils is important because we often apply them directly to our skin. However, in this case, because it is being added to a playdough recipe, quality may not be as important. Still, I think it may be worth getting some higher-quality oils becuase you can use them for so many different things! You will only be using a few drops in these recipes, leaving you with lots more oil to use in other ways.
Christmas Winter Playdough Scents
There are so many smells that make us think of the Christmas and winter seasons. Warm vanilla, rich cinnamon, pine trees, peppermint, and all those Christmas smells paired together. Now with a little time, and I honestly mean a little, you will be able to have all of those cozy scents made into playdough!
Cozy Cinnamon Playdough
Ingredients
- 1 cup of flour (160 g)
- 1/2 cup of salt (165 g)
- 1 cup of water (205 g)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (24 g)
- 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (26 g)
- 5 drops of Cinnamon Bark essential oil
- To make the dough brown: 10 drops of red, 10 drops of yellow, and 2 drops of blue food coloring
Perfect Pine Tree Playdough
Ingredients
- 1 cup of flour (160 g)
- 1/2 cup of salt (165 g)
- 1 cup of water (205 g)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (24 g)
- 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (26 g)
- 10 drops of Pine essential oil
- To make dark green dough: 5 drops of green and 2 drops of blue food coloring
Christmas Spirit Playdough
Ingredients
- 1 cup of flour (160 g)
- 1/2 cup of salt (165 g)
- 1 cup of water (205 g)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (24 g)
- 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (26 g)
- 6 drops of Christmas Spirit essential oil
- To make the dough red: 15 drops of red food coloring
Peppermint Candy Cane Playdough
Ingredients
- 1 cup of flour (160 g)
- 1/2 cup of salt (165 g)
- 1 cup of water (205 g)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (24 g)
- 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (26 g)
- 5 drops of Peppermint essential oil
- To make dark green dough: 5 drops of green and 2 drops of blue food coloring. For lighter green, omit the blue.
Sweet Vanilla Playdough
Ingredients
- 1 cup of flour (160 g)
- 1/2 cup of salt (165 g)
- 1 cup of water (205 g)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (24 g)
- 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (26 g)
- 10-15 drops of Vanilla essential oil
How to Make Homemade Playdough
Now that I have developed many scented playdough recipes, I have come to see how incredibly easy this recipe is! I think out of all of the ways I have scented playdough, using essential oils is my favorite. It is easy to add a few drops of the oil, and it also makes the playdough softer and more smooth.
Start by measuring out one cup of water and then add food coloring to the water. Mix the water and food coloring before adding the 2 tablespoons of oil.
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Add in your drops of essential oils. It is easy to add more later once the playdough is made if you want a stronger scent.
Measure out and combine the dry ingredients: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, and 2 Tablespoons cream of tartar.
Add the dry and wet ingredients into the saucepan.
Heat your saucepan over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula 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 want to add any additional drops of essential oil, you can do that at this point and knead it in to incorporate.
Allow playdough to cool a little bit and then store it in a zip-lock bag or an airtight container.
Benefits of Essential Oil Playdough
Children seek out sensory input in so many ways. By offering playdough scented with essential oils, we are providing them with an even more rich sensory experience. Both their tactile and olfactory systems are being engaged. Playdough can support fine motor and dexterity, as well as focus and concentration. There can be even more opportunities for creative play when you put together a Montessori-inspired playdough kit for your little one! Here is an example of some things you could include in a Montessori-inspired playdough kit!
Items for A Montessori Christmas Playdough Kit
- Small jingle bells
- Christmas cookie cutters
- Rolling pin
- Textured rolling pin
- Plastic candy canes
- Cinnamon sticks
How long will my homemade playdough last?
If stored properly in a zip-lock bag or airtight containers, it can last for up to 6 months or longer.
When you start using playdough with a child?
When your toddler is out of the, “put everything in my mouth to explore” phase, then it would be a good time to introduce playdough. I find that by having an engaging playdough kit and taking the time to show a child how to play with playdough, they will be less interested in putting everything into their mouth. I think for my boys, I introduced playdough around 15 months old.
