Get Crafty This Weekend With Fall Scented Play Dough

Some of the best signs of fall are the incredible cinnamon and spice smells that tantalizingly nudge passersby into stores and cafes throughout Brooklyn. From the baked cider donuts at South Slope’s Naidre’s, to the maple butter latte at Roots, artisans are busy creating seasonal favorites that both comfort and delight the senses.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take an all-star baker or barista to bring the essence of autumn into your own home. While your first instinct might be to whip up something tasty in the kitchen, we’ve got a super easy craft project that will help keep the kids busy during this wet and dreary weekend.

The best part? You don’t need to be a crafty Pinterest parent to pull this off. With a few pantry staples, and little help from the kids, you’ll wind up with cinnamon and ginger scented play dough that smells almost good enough to eat.

Start by gathering your ingredients.

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tarter
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1.5 cups of boiled water
• Food coloring
• Spices

Bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil, and immediately remove from heat.

Combine flour, salt, cream of tarter, vegetable oil, and food coloring with the water. We wanted two different scents, so we split the mixture into two bowls at this point, and then added our spices. There are several different options for spices – we chose cinnamon and ginger, but you could also use cloves, nutmeg, or an allspice. Stir the mixture until it begins to form a ball.

Now, a friend who shall remain nameless suggested that we use tempera paint instead of food coloring for the play dough, because it gives the dough a more vibrant color. Loving the idea of a more vibrant dough, we gave it a go. Epic fail. It was a sticky, disgusting mess, and no matter how much extra flour we added, the stuff wouldn’t ball up.

Into the trash.

On our second attempt, we stuck with food coloring, and successfully balled up a nice wad of dough. It’s definitely not as vibrant, but there’s no concern about unleashing The Blob on Brooklyn, so we’ll roll with it.

Remove your ball from the bowl, and spend a few minutes kneading the dough. We had to add a little extra flour while kneading to get the consistency right, but it didn’t take long before we had some pretty stellar play dough.

When the kids are finished playing, wrap the dough in plastic wrap (or seal it in an airtight container), stick it in the fridge, and it should last for several months. Best of all, your hands smell incredible after playing with this stuff! No nasty store-bought dough stench!

That’s all there is to it. Snag your city kid, and get crafty this weekend!

Have a fun seasonal craft that you’d like to share? Email us at editor@bklyner.com.