“Lemoney” Lemon Play Dough…A Little “Post Nap” Therapy

“Each day has a color, a smell.” ~Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Today we had some grumpy girls. I don’t know if it’s the cold weather, or the common cold bug…but the two girl smalls were blue. They both woke from their afternoon naps in a fuss. The crying and the runny noses were just too much. And “who ya gonna call” when you’re in a bind? Pinterest, of course!

Oh, the great NurtureStore. She always has somthin’ up her sleeve. I opened my Pinterest and there on my feed was the prettiest sunshiney yellow sensory rice tub. It’s a thing of beauty. One can’t be sad, or groggy, whiny or cross while playing in it, I’m sure of it.

I decided what these girls needed was a good dose of sunshine and a refreshing whiff of one of the happiest scents in the kitchen…lemon.

These 2 girls love play dough. So I gathered up all the ingredients to make our favourite play dough recipe, and I added a few special ingredients…Before I added the lemon zest to the dough myself, I thought better of it. Maybe the girls could get a good “small-motor skills workout” if I let them do it!

I gave each girl half of the play dough and sprinkled the lemon zest on the table in front of them. They poked holes in their dough…And they filled them up with zest sprinkles…And as they worked, the pale, cranky faces began to change. The smiles and happy chatter took over my kitchen. All was well.And it smelled so “lemoney” and cheerful! One of the girls decided that’s what she wanted for dinner…lemoney lemon pie!

So thank you, NurtureStore, for such great and happy inspiration. Lemon and sunshine chased our blues right out the back door!

Here is our full recipe for our “Lemoney Lemon Playdough”, just in case you don’t have a favourite recipe yet!*We store our play dough in a tin, or plastic container and it lasts for weeks!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Arlee, Small Potatoes

18 thoughts on ““Lemoney” Lemon Play Dough…A Little “Post Nap” Therapy”

What lemony loveliness!

Cant wait to try this!

will try this to morrow in my montessori school Thanks for Sharing Maureen

OOH! I LOVE this idea!! Can’t wait to try it with my kiddos! Thank you for sharing! Planning to try it with my pure lemon essential oil for some added therapeutic benefits 🙂 So fun!

I pinned this! We make a lot of playdough, even using essential oils… but I never thought to use our lemon EO. Please consider sharing this at Eco Kids Tuesday! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2012/11/out-of-hangers-and-eco-kids-link-up.html

Hi, thanx for the recipe. Do you know if it is possible to replace the cream of tartar in it with baking soda? Problem is that it would be very hard to find this here (Czech republic, Europe), maybe in some winery, definitely not in shops.

arleegreenwood

November 22, 2012 at 7:09 am Reply

Can you find alum? That is a good substitute. The baking soda would not serve the purpose of the cream of tartar, which is to keep the play dough from becoming too moist and getting slimy. Your play dough would not last more than a few days. Let me know if you can’t find alum and I’ll try and help another way…
- vimneok
  
  November 22, 2012 at 12:57 pm
  
  ALUM? are you sure? It is used here as a cure when a man cuts himself when shaving…
- arleegreenwood
  
  November 22, 2012 at 1:02 pm
  
  I am absolutely sure 🙂 You may not need quite as much, but it works. You can experiment with amounts, but I’d start out with a teaspoon!
- arleegreenwood
  
  November 22, 2012 at 1:22 pm
  
  Here is a link for a playdough recipe where she explains the substitution of alum…http://myrecipebox.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/play-dough/
- vimneok
  
  November 24, 2012 at 3:34 am
  
  I got it 🙂 we just cooked our own dough for the first time, thank you for the great ideal 🙂
- arleegreenwood
  
  November 24, 2012 at 9:25 am
  
  Yay!!! I’m so glad to hear that! Enjoy! 🙂

I love your beginning quote. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is such a wonderful author. I’ve read several of her books and I think she is brilliant. Give her a whirl sometime if you haven’t already. 🙂 P.S. I love the idea of lemon playdough. I might make some for myself…I could use a little sunshine during the winter. 🙂