Make a batch of warming vanilla chai play dough perfect for Autumn play. Team it with wooden and metal resources to create a Reggio-inspired invitation to play.
We love trying out new combinations for play dough, our latest is a Vanilla Chai scent. It’s sweet yet so warming and spicy, perfect for those chilly Autumnal days. These tea bags can be picked up in Tesco and I’ve also seen Twinings and Pukka selling it.
To make the dough we used our usual No-Cook Play Dough Recipe (click to read instructions) but this time we steeped two Vanilla Chai teabags in the boiling water for a few minutes. You could also add in a few drops of brown food colour if you’d like a deeper tea colour but I really liked the natural caramel colour it turned out to be.
We arranged the play dough on a tray along with some wooden and metal resources to encourage open-ended, creative play. Here is what we used;
- cinnamon sticks
- a selection of wooden beads
- wooden discs
- pinecones
- metal cutters
- a knife
- a rolling pin
- a wooden spoon
These are just ideas so have a look around your home and get creative!
S (2.7yrs) immediately noticed the scent of the dough and kept giving it a good sniff as she played! She loves using loose parts in dough so set about pressing the beads and discs in. Her prized pinecones (which we collected to use in our Autumn Treasures play dough activity) were used to press into the dough to make patterns and imprints.
Quite inventively, I thought, she made a little structure using a wooden disc, play dough and pinecone and presented it to me as a ‘cake’.
I am learning to…
- handle malleable materials with increasing control :: Physical
- focus attention on the task in hand :: Communication & Language
- use talk to explain what is happening :: Communication & Language
- show interest in the texture of materials :: Expressive Arts & Design
Similar resources to the ones we have used {affiliate links}:
Follow Beth :: Wings and Roots’s board Play Dough on Pinterest.