Easy Pumpkin Pie Scented Play Dough Recipe for Sensory Play (2024)

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Pumpkin pie is a classic! This easy pumpkin pie-scented play dough is a perfect fall sensory activity for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners.

I decided to try making my own homemade playdough this week for my daughter's sensory play.

This pumpkin pie-scented play dough is perfect for fall or autumnsensory activities of all ages. I love that my 1 year old could play with it and I didn't have to worry about her accidentally putting it in her mouth. She especially LOVED walking over it barefoot, which was so funny to watch.

This recipe is inspired by the Best Ever No-Cook Play Dough Recipe from The Imagination Tree.

Pumpkin Pie Scented Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon spice blend/pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 8-10 drops of red food coloring (all-natural food coloring option)
• 5-7 drops of yellow food coloring

Directions:

Mix your dry ingredients: flour, salt, and cream of tartar together.

Add the oil, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin puree and mix together.

Finally, add boiling water (you can add in batches) and stir with a spoon until everything is combined.

After the mixture has cooled, take it out of the bowl and knead it on the counter until it is not sticky anymore. You will need to add flour as you go, but just use your judgment with that.

For this recipe, I originally added only 2 cups of flour, but when I kneaded it I ended up adding at least 2 more cups while kneading it. I added one cup to the recipe, but you may need to add even more once you get to the kneading stage.

Hands-On Play Dough Activity

I already had a rolling pin which I had purchased from the Target dollar aisle a couple of weeks ago for her. I also had the tray from Hobby Lobby, which had been sitting on a chair, waiting for just the right activity.

At first, she just poked at it with her fingers, then I showed her the spoons and the rolling pin and she started pushing the spoon and the end of the rolling pin into it. She also started pushing her fingers down into it. I also grabbed some plastic bath toys and added them to the tray.

Then the socks came off. Wow did she love that! She started throwing her feet on top of the play dough and started walking all over it.

Functional Skills Used:

• Bilateral Coordination -Mixing the dough; kneading the dough, using the rolling pin with it; pushing down with cookie cutters or bath toys.
• Engaging the Senses – Smell – Pumpkin Pie Spice; Sight – Orange color; Tastes– if they decide to put it in their mouths as my daughter did once; Touch – Soft, cold, squishy, etc.Sound – In our case my daughter banging the rolling pin and spoons in it.
• Hand strength and endurance – rolling the rolling pin, using cookie cutters or bath toys to push down.
• Visual Motor Skills – Using the play dough to make shapes, pre-writing lines, letters in their name, etc.
• Pre-writing skills – Using the play dough to make letters in their name, words, and pre-writing lines (horizontal, vertical, circle shapes).

• 10 Days of Fall Fine Motor Activities for Kids
• 25 Play Dough Invitation to Play Ideas for Kids
• Calming No-Cook Play Dough Recipe
• Activities for Fine Motor Skill Development

Heather Greutman, COTA

Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based OT services for preschool through high school. She uses her background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies for parents, educators, and therapists. She is the author of many ebooks including The Basics of Fine Motor Skills, and Basics of Pre-Writing Skills, and co-author of Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.