Name: The Best Pumpkin Spice Playdough
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 3/4 cup salt; 4 teaspoons cream of tartar; 2 cups lukewarm water; 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (or olive, avocado, canola); 15 drops thieves essential oil (for scent and anti-microbial properties); 1-2 tablespoons of turmeric (for colour); 1-2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (for colour and scent)

In this post I will share the best all-natural pumpkin spice playdough, made with spices and essential oils you’ll find right in your pantry. Best of all, it only takes about 10 minute to make it for hours and hours of fun.

All-Natural Pumpkin Spice Playdough

Finding activities that everyone in the family enjoys can be an adventure at times. Sometimes being a homeschooler means you’re actually, well, at home! And being home on rainy autumn days can leave us in need of a fun activity. That’s one reason why I absolutely love making playdough together. It is such a quick and easy activity that takes only about 10 minutes total but is followed up with hours of fun!

This recipe is all-natural playdough recipe that is completely non-toxic, zero-waste and compostable! This is a favourite of my family and we usually make a variation on this recipe every few months. To make it extra special, we like to do some seasonal colours and all-natural scents in our playdough.

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How to Make 10-Minute Pumpkin Spice Playdough

This playdough uses totally natural ingredients that you likely have in your pantry right now. You don’t even need fancy gel food colouring for this! The only slightly fussy ingredient that you may need to purchase specially for this is cream of tartar. The best price I have found for cream of tartar is on Amazon.

This is a great recipe for kids to help make. The only step I don’t let them help with is when I first add the essential oils. Essential oils are very strong when not diluted, so I mis them in first before letting little helpers touch.

Keeping Playdough Fresh with Essential Oils

I like to make a fresh batch of playdough every couple of months, but that’s mostly because the kids use it so much it gets dried out. We have never had our playdough go rancid or mouldy when we have used essential oils. The great thing about that is, the kids are getting a full sensory experience with the playdough when it has essential oils in it.

Spreading germs to your friends is no fun, so I love using some essential oils with anti-microbial properties for that reason as well. Essential oil playdough also stays fresh for longer because of this.

How to Keep Homemade Playdough Fresh for Longer

We use a big gallon sized zipper-seal plastic bag to keep our playdough as fresh as possible. To avoid plastic waste, we reuse the same bag.

There is no need to store this fresh playdough in the fridge.

For autumn season, I love to do either pumpkin spice or apple cider scented playdough. This recipe can be made with thieves essential oil and cinnamon, or you can do a full pumpkin pie spice mix!

Pumpkin Spice Playdough Ingredients:

For this recipe, you’ll need all-purpose flour, salt, cream of tartar, lukewarm water, oil, and some essential oils and spices to complete the pumpkin spice vibe.

A neutral kitchen countertop spread with playdough ingredients: salt, coconut oil, cream of tartar, organic all purpose flour, pumpkins, turmeric, and cinnamon.

Materials:

stove
medium to large sized pot
rubber spatula or wooden spoon
counter space
wax paper
zipper seal plastic bag for storage

Method

The method for this couldn’t be easier!

In one generous-sized pot, add all your dry ingredients and stir well. Then add the wet ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring well, until a ball begins to form.

Then you transfer to wax paper and allow to cool a bit until you can work the dough comfortably.

Add your essential oils and knead the dough well.

Play!

For the full recipe, check out the Pumpkin Spice Playdough method and instructions below.