# Fresh Flowers Play Dough
> Mix a classic cooked-with-boiling-water playdough with pink food color and a handful of fresh garden rose petals for a fragrant, speckled sensory dough. Then roll, squish, cut flowers and make little people.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/fresh-flowers-play-dough-play/
- Ages: 2–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 20 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 2 kids
- Skills: sensory-exploration, fine-motor, creativity
- Cautions: wheat-gluten, food-dye, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 1 cup Flour (household)
- 0.25 cup Salt (household)
- 1 tbsp Cream of tartar
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil (household)
- 0.5 cup Boiling water (household)
- 1 handful Fresh fragrant rose petals
- Pink food coloring
- 1 piece Large mixing bowl (household)
- 1 piece Spoon for mixing (household)
- 1 piece Kid-size rolling pin (optional)
- 1 piece Flower-shaped cookie cutter (optional)
- Beads or small decorations (optional)
- Essential oil (optional)

## Substitutions
- Instead of rose petals: Other fragrant flower petals, such as jasmine (The author says jasmine would have been great, 'a bit over the top fragrance but still oh-so-good!')

## Safety
- Adult handles the boiling water and does the first mixing. Let the dough cool and check it before handing it to kids.
- Not food: the toddler tried to sneak a taste, and the author says 'Mom is ALWAYS watching during play time.' The dough is very salty, so supervise closely and don't let kids eat it.
- Only use petals you know are non-toxic and haven't been sprayed with pesticides. Check each garden flower before using it with children who mouth things.
- If you add essential oils to extend the scent, an adult adds a small amount. Essential oils are concentrated and can irritate skin and eyes.
- Small accessories such as beads are a choking hazard for toddlers. Supervise closely.
- Food color may stain hands and surfaces.

## Before you start
- Gather a handful of fresh, fragrant, unsprayed flower petals from the garden.
- Set out the usual playdough accessories: rolling pin, cutters and small decorations.

## Steps
1. Put the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large bowl and stir.
2. Add a few drops of pink food color, then let the kids drop in a handful of fresh rose petals.
3. Add the vegetable oil.
4. Adult: pour in the boiling water a little at a time and mix the dough really well.
5. Let the dough cool and check that it isn't hot, then knead it into a soft pink, petal-speckled ball.
6. Smell it, roll it, squish it and feel the texture.
7. Press a flower cutter into the dough to make flowers.
8. Shape little people and decorate them with beads.

## Tips
- Our kids used very few accessories this time. The pink dough itself was fun, and it smelled so fresh and fragrant they kept taking big whiffs.
- The playdough smells amazing for a good 2 weeks, then the smell tapers off. Add essential oils to extend it.
- Use whatever fragrant flowers you have in the garden. We used roses at peak season plus a few poppy petals.
- My toddler just had to try to eat it. Mom is ALWAYS watching during play time.
- The specks of petals add visual interest and an extra sensory element.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

For this week's quick play post we share this fun and fragrant play dough idea. There are so many scents and textures you can add to to make the sensory play exciting for the child. We have added rose scented oil and make [**Valentine playdough**,](https://www.funlittles.com/valentines-day-activities-rose-scented-playdough/) added sand and made **[beach dough](https://www.funlittles.com/summer-sensory-activity-beach-dough-creatures/)**, added Kool-Aid and used playdough **[in art](https://www.funlittles.com/play-dough-play-tracing-and-coloring-with-playdough/).** It is very easy to make and you can adapt it to the child's interests and preferences. Right now is peak rose season and we have plenty of roses bushes in our garden in full fragrant bloom. How about making a sensory dough with fresh flowers?

### Playdough recipe

- 1 - 1 1/4 cups Flour
- 1tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp Cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/2 cup-3/4 cup of boiling water ( add in small increments)
- handful of rose petals

We added the flour, salt, cream of tartar to a large bowl and the kids added the rose petals and a few poppy petals. We just used only fragrant flowers we had in our garden. I'd add any fragrant flowers petals ( jasmine would have great - a bit over the top fragrance but still oh-so-good!) Flowers petals are fantastic for any kind of **[sensory activities](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-quick-play-idea-with-fresh-flowers-and-sand/)** and we have used them in our sensory box and we have used wild flowers to make **outdoor potions.**

 After adding the dry ingredients, pink food color and the fresh rose petals, we added the boiling water and mixed up the dough really well.



 Within a few minutes we got a beautiful pink and rose scented dough with tiny specks of flower petals for visual stimulation and an additional sensory element.

 Once the dough was prepared, I set our the usual accessories. Although this time the kids used very few accessories to enjoy play dough play. I strongly feel it is simply because the pink dough itself was fun, it smelt so fresh and fragrant. They kept taking in big whiffs and went " oooh it smells so good, mommy" and of course my toddler just had to ask and surreptitiously try to eat it. Mom is ALWAYS watching during play time. We rolled, squished and felt the texture.



My toddler made a few flowers but that day they were really into making people .

 The playdough smells amazing for a good 2 weeks. Then the smell tapers off. To extend the smell you could essential oils. **

Thanks for reading