Get into the Halloween spirit with these play dough pumpkin cookies. This toddler Halloween activity is so simple to set up and lets them “carve” their pumpkins over and over again!
Does it drive anyone else crazy how early people start talking about holidays?? I feel like we’ve been seeing jack-o-lanterns at the stores and in commercials since August! And of course, my toddler has been asking to carve her very own pumpkin since. Since our pumpkin lanterns would be pumpkin mush if we carved them when she asked, I compromised and had her “carve” her very own play dough pumpkin cookies. She loves making these pretend cookies and decorating them with little pieces. These are so easy to make and can be used over and over until it’s finally time to carve the real things!
Skills Used
- fine motor
- practical life
- shape recognition
Materials
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- orange food coloring
- Play dough tools
- black construction paper
- scissors
- green chenille stem
- cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice for scent (optional)
Making Play Dough
Making your own play dough is an activity in itself! The ingredients are all simple measurements so that your little one can pour and mix all on their own. I usually have her mix the ingredients directly in the pot so that she can watch me cook the dough.
To make the dough combine the ingredients and then set pot over medium heat. Stir the dough constantly, I like using a spatula so I can scrape the sides, you will see the colors getting darker and then it will become solid. Once it’s still just a little sticky I turn the heat off so that it doesn’t burn. Let it cool for a few minutes and then knead it before setting it out to play.
Play Dough Pumpkin Cookies
As the play dough cooled I cut small shapes from black construction paper and cut 1 inch pieces of the green chenille stem to use as the pumpkin stem. I then set out her play dough rolling pin and a circle cookie cutter for her to use, but it would be great if you had a pumpkin shaped one as well!
She then rolled out the play dough and cut a circle shape. When I told her to make her jack-o-lantern face, we talked about what different shapes she was using and she had fun finding the matching pairs for the eyes. After making a few of the pumpkins with paper, she got creative and used her play dough tools to stamp a face on one of the pumpkins. I love how it turned out!
Don’t these play dough pumpkin cookies look like so cute? We saved the paper with the play dough in the fridge and she’s made many more batches of the Halloween cookies!
