Pumpkin Pie Playdoh

Each week Caleb's preschool teacher Mrs. Hurlbert sends home a "Peek@theWeek" to tell us what the class is doing or give us ideas to do at home. This particular week's had some fun ideas, including the game "Birds of a Nest." When the boys got home from King's Kids Choir on Sunday night, after they were in their PJs, I suggested we play a round or two before going to bed. The idea is to act like birds (flapping your arms like wings and soaring around the room making bird noises) until a parent says "birds find a nest!" The little birdies (and big!) then flap to find a cozy nest - whether under a table, in bed, behind a couch or anywhere fun. It was really fun to play as a family. Shawn & I cracked up when baby Ryan started to flap his wings and say "Caw! Caw!" like a bird. It was SO SO cute!!! We played it for awhile until it was time to settle down into our nests for good that night to sleep.

Monday morning, I took another idea from Mrs. Hurlbert and made pumpkin pie playdoh with Caleb. Here's a picture of all the ingredients and the directions. Shawn groaned that regular playdoh costs $1 while the ingredients to make your own cost way more (who knew Cream of Tartar and Pumpkin Pie spice were several dollars each)? BUT, it's more about making memories than cost with this stuff. So, if anyone reading this would like the official recipe, just let me know. It's easy to make and it's the first playdoh I've seen that actually smells really good. And while it wouldn't taste good to eat, I'm sure, it's not harmful if a little one puts some in his mouth.

Caleb loves to help in the kitchen! He dumped the ingredients and mixed them together.

After we heated them on the stove top for a little (just to get the lumps out), we floured a surface and kneaded it together like bread.

Then it was ready to play! After Joshua was out of school (and it may have been a day or so later), we took the pumpkin pie playdoh we had made out of its air-tight storage container and brought all our playdoh accessories out.

I tried to get Ryan interested in playing with the playdoh with his brothers, but he wasn't too interested. He played with some but was more interested in all the accessories he could play with and chew on, etc.

The smell of his playdoh was WONDERFUL! The boys asked me if they could eat it, to which I replied NO! But, we could make "fake food" with it. You can see the fake pretzel, fake cookie, fake slice of bread along with the turtle, fish and car in the photo below.

I always use the same ugly plastic tablecloth over my table when we paint or play with playdoh so it's easy to clean up. The boys were having a blast cutting, making "spaghetti," forming shapes and playing with the doh.

They play so well together! It was fun to watch them. Eventually I took Ryan upstairs for his nap, and while I rocked him, I listened as the boys continued to create. :)

This activity kept them busy for hours. I don't bring playdoh out all the time (it's a little messy for my liking!) but when I do, I think they have all the more fun with it because it's a special treat. :)

Eventually, we started cleaning it up. I remember a mom telling me one time that the best way to clean up playdoh is with playdoh. It sticks together, so if you have small pieces on the floor, use a bigger ball of it to grab those little ones. It works like a charm! Never use water when cleaning it up. Start by getting it all together and then you can wash down the surfaces. With the three of us working together, we were able to clean up the accessories and the pumpkin pie playdoh in no time.

And we have it put away to play with again sometime! I love fall fun!