Harvest Play Dough Recipe for Kids

My preschool kiddos and I have been enjoying The Little Red Hen recently. We’ve read Paul Galdone’s version many times, and we even used sensory materials to retell the story! One of those sensory items was a little concoction I whipped up at home. Here’s my harvest play dough recipe for kids to use with a farm or harvest theme!

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Harvest themed play dough recipe for kids

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons alum
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Barley

Directions
1. Mix the flour, salt, oil, and alum in a large bowl.
2. Boil the water (I just used the microwave), then add it to the bowl.
3. Mix the ingredients until thoroughly combined.
4. When the dough isn’t too hot, knead until smooth.
5. Add barley until happy with the consistency. I used about a cup.

I played with the play dough a bit before the preschoolers did! My son had fun helping me test it out at home, too! The texture of the dough was really different once the barley was added. Of course, that was the whole point of adding the barley in the first place! I know barley isn’t wheat, but I chose it because of how similar it looks to wheat seeds. Plus, I already had half a bag in the back of my cupboard. 🙂

I don’t usually create my own play dough recipes, I have to admit! The Imagination Tree has an awesome no-cook recipe, and NurtureStore has an easy peasy version, too. I almost always use one of their recipes as a base, then simply add a few bits and bobs along with food coloring or liquid watercolors. This time, I changed it up because I wanted whole wheat flour and I didn’t have all the right ingredients in my house! I’m sure adding barley to one of their amazing recipes would still create a fun experience for the kiddos!

I’m storing this in a plastic bag at school. If it starts drying out, I plan to add a tiny bit of water to it!