Strawberry Play-Dough

Miranda, the Early Intervention Mama

Miranda is a mama to two young girls and a self proclaimed child development nerd. After spending 13 years serving families of babies and toddlers in early intervention, she recently left her position with Early On in Ingham County to care for her daughters and build her own small business, MI Early Parenting, LLC. Miranda currently provides parent and me enrichment classes and courses while offering robust Instagram and Facebook accounts filled with tips on parenting the 0-5 crowd. In her spare time she enjoys baking, creating, sharing a meal with friends or family, ,and working hard to keep her pandemic house plants alive.

Find her current class offerings here!

It’s the time of year for berry picking! One of my favorite ways to encourage expansion of concepts for our small children is to add sensory play into their day that builds on their experiences.

This is an easy peasy strawberry microwave playdough recipe that you can make together with your toddler or preschooler. It is super soft, smells fantastic, and is beautiful! The best part, if you want to try a blueberry, raspberry, or blackberry recipe- just swap the jello and color of gel food coloring.

What you will need:

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup white flour
2 Tb salt
2 Tb cream of tartar (or substitute alum)
1 3oz pack of jello (we chose strawberry)

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup of water
2 Tb cooking oil

Optional Add Ins:
Gel food coloring
1 Tb poppy seeds

Instructions:

Combine water and cooking oil into a microwave safe measuring cup or bowl. Microwave for 2.5 minutes till boiling. Take extra caution when you remove it from the microwave.
Combine flour, salt, cream of tartar, and your jello package of choice. Gently stir together in a large microwave safe bowl.
Pour hot wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.
Microwave for 30 seconds, remove and stir.
Repeat step 4 for 3-4 cycles until playdough appears less sticky.
Add in extra food coloring for vibrancy, and poppy seeds to give it that strawberry seed look.
Flatten out your playdough onto a clean surface to cool and you’ll be ready to play in no time.

Remember, nearly anything can be a playdough tool. Check your cupboards, toy bin, or even recyclables for simple creative tools. Some of our favorite “non playdough tool” tools include:

Old bubble wands
Silicone muffin cups
Buttons
Kid safe knives
Toothpicks
Milk jug tops

If making homemade playdough is not your thing? Connect with Branda from https://www.magicallymessy.co/ for some beautiful curated sensory bins.

If you are interested in more fun hands-on experiences for your child, head to an Early Intervention Mama Sensory Storytime this summer for a sensational time!