4 Playdough Recipes for Fall

Looking for a playdough recipe that’s perfect for fall? These homemade playdoughs are scented with real apples, pumpkin, and spices. Use them in a pretend bakery shop, play with some free playdough mats or stamp them with alphabet letters… the possibilities are limitless. Each playdough recipe makes enough for 2-3 children to have a large ball of dough.

To continue your playdough fun, check out our Playdough Mats in our shop!

Red Apple Cider Dough Playdough Recipe

1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 cup of  apple cider

4 tablespoons of vegetable oil

red food coloring

2 cups flour

1/2 cup of salt

4 tablespoons of cream of tartar

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

To make the apple cider playdough recipe, my 4 year old daughter, A, measured the dry ingredients {flour, salt, cream of tartar, and cinnamon} and dumped each into a medium sized bowl.

Next, she measured and mixed the wet ingredients {apple sauce, cider, oil, and dye} in a medium sized pot. Then we heated the wet ingredients on medium, stirring often until it bubbled.  The house smelled so yummy during this step – it made A dance around the kitchen in excitement. {I prefer using real apples and cider to scent my dough, instead of scented oils, so the smell isn’t overpowering.}

Once it was bubbling, we removed the pot from the heat and added the dry ingredients.  A stirred until the playdough began to form, then we dumped the mixture onto the counter to cool.  The dough was sticky at first but, once cooled and kneaded, the stickiness disappeared. The playdough recipe smelled wonderfully spicy and slightly sweet. This dough can store for several weeks in an airtight container or bag.

Pumpkin Pie Playdough Recipe

1 cup of pumpkin puree

3/4 cup of water

orange food coloring {or red and yellow}

4 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 cups flour

1/2 cup of salt

4 tablespoons of cream of tartar

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of ginger

1/2-1 teaspoon of cloves {depending on your fondness of this spice}

For the pumpkin pie playdough recipe, we repeated the process for the apple cider dough.  First, A measured out the dry ingredients into a bowl and set it aside.  Next, she measured and mixed the wet ingredients in a medium pot.

Again, we heated and whisked the sweet spicy pumpkin mixture until it bubbled and then removed it from the heat.  A dumped in the dry ingredients and stirred till her little arms could no longer mix.

After letting the dough cool for several minutes we dumped it onto the counter and kneaded it until completely mixed.  The dough will seem ever so slightly lumpy because of the real pumpkin puree which A thought made it “so real”!

This was our first time making a pumpkin pie playdough recipe using real pumpkin and it smelled just like a fresh baked pumpkin muffin.  Even I had to resist the urge to take a bite!

Spicy Ginger and Nutmeg Playdough Recipes

3 cups of flour

3 cups of water

3/4 cup of salt

6 tablespoons of cream of tartar

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

yellow food coloring for ginger dough

brown dye for nutmeg dough {mix equal parts red and green dye to make brown}

1 tablespoon of  ginger spice

1 tablespoon of nutmeg spice

For these recipes we simply made a batch of One Pot Playdough which is amazingly squishy and smooth. Once cooked, we split the dough in half, scenting and dying one yellow for ginger dough and the other brown for nutmeg dough.  We added about a tablespoon of dry spice for each scent but you can add as much or as little as you choose.

Whether together or separate these playdough recipes, smell awesome and are the perfect way to celebrate the delicious smells of Fall.  Both my kids have been playing with these doughs daily and as long as my house smells like a bakery, I don’t mind cleaning up after my two busy bakers!

More Playdough Fun

For more playdough inspiration, grab our Playdough Mats and let the fun continue!