• It is officially that time of year again. The time of the pumpkin. Pumpkin spiced everything. You can’t turn the corner without being bombarded with the sight and smell of pumpkins. I’m not really complaining, I happen to love pumpkins. I’m also known to get a little excited about Pumpkin Spice Lattes too. That being said, every fall we make pumpkin spice play dough. This play dough recipe is easy enough, in fact it is just a regular play dough recipe. The difference is that we add in orange food coloring and toss in a few pumpkin pie spices.

    The important thing about our pumpkin spice play dough is that it is a family tradition. Even though it is not entirely something special, it’s something that we do every year that my kids enjoy. I find this play dough especially helpful on thanksgiving day. While I am away slaving in the kitchen, my kids are at the table pretending to make their own pies.

    Here is the super simple recipe:

    2 cups flour
    1 cup salt
    1 table spoon cream of tartar
    2 teaspoons ground cloves
    2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    (You could sub in pumpkin pie spice if your prefer!)
    2 tablespoons canola oil
    1 cups warm water
    Red and yellow food coloring (you want a ratio of 2 yellow to 1 red for the best orange color. Just experiment until you get something that looks like pumpkin pie filling)

    Mix everything together in a large pan. Cook over medium heat while stirring constantly. Eventually a dough will form and everything will come together. Turn it out onto a piece of parchment to cool. I usually let it cool for about twenty minutes before letting the kids play with it.

    If you find that you got the color wrong you can knead in more food coloring at this point.

    This stuff smells amazing so watch your little ones. Nothing in the recipe is harmful if ingested but I imagine it does not taste as good as it smells.