3 Easy Edible Playdough Recipes for Easter Fun With Family

Connect for Easter Fun With Family

Easter is coming, and with it comes a great opportunity to connect with family.  Even if you can’t be together this holiday, you can find fun and easy DIY projects to do with the kids in your life that spark creativity and build important skills.

Making edible playdough together might be the perfect option. This kid-friendly activity delights children of all ages. After all, no matter how many birthday candles we blow out, we are all young at heart.

3 Easy Edible Playdough Recipes and more

Read on to learn about the benefits of making edible playdough and find three awesome — and delicious — recipes for edible playdough. Plus, we’ll dish on a no-cook way to sprinkle some fun into family relationships, including virtual ones, with assistance from Kinoo.

What Are the Benefits of Making Edible Playdough?

Making edible playdough has many benefits. To start, it’s safe for curious little ones who may want to take a little bite here and there. Each easy recipe isn’t just delicious; working with edible playdough is a fantastic sensory play activity that improves motor skills and can boost more academic skill sets at the same time.

Additionally, making the clay is basically cooking, which reinforces math skills through measuring servings, adds literacy through reading instructions, and boosts feelings of self-confidence with successful completion of tasks.

How To Introduce Sensory Play

Sensory play includes all five senses — taste, sight, smell, touch, and hearing. Sensory play improves cognitive skills that allow children to problem solve and create new ideas. Making and playing with edible playdough hits all of the sensory play boxes. 

Kids can feel the dough squishing in their fingers. While creating and playing, you can help them observe the different colors and shapes they can bring to life. Since the play dough is edible, your hungry little chef can enjoy a taste or two, as well.

Through mixing and kneading, your little one can create different (and often funny!) sounds. Plus, the squashing activity enhances the sugary aroma, all of which contribute to a full-body experience.

Creative Play and Skill Building 

The sky's the limit when playing with edible playdough. Even if you can’t be together, you and your family members can play with your playdough over a video chat using Kinoo. Connect in a call and choose an activity to try sculpting what you see.

Or, challenge your little loved one to create a favorite character or animal with your guidance. Snakes and snails are easy for children still developing hand-eye coordination.  Clay-based crafts are also wonderful opportunities for working on shape and letter recognition. 

Why Family Bonding Matters

Finding ways to keep in touch with family is vital for our mental health, but we may also see the benefits in our physical health. For most adults, it's easy to stay in touch, but for older and younger family members, it may be more difficult.

To keep kids connected to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even cousins or friends who live far away, Kinoo has the perfect recipe. Kinoo video calls include activities that are fun and educational, with extra prompts from adorable characters that help keep children engaged, even if you aren’t sharing the same space. 

If you're not able to see the little ones in your life as often as you would like, it may be tougher to bond right away when you do see them. Luckily, activities like those inside the Kinoo platform, or activities that can be done together over video chat, like making edible, homemade playdough, can help you make memories that last forever. 

Advancements in video call technology, like Kinoo, offer simple ways to collaborate and bake, even when miles apart. 

 

How To Make It: Three Easy Edible Playdough Recipes

Now that you know some of the many benefits of making edible playdough, here are a few of our favorite recipes. We have chosen three flour-free recipes in accordance with FDA recommendations against consuming raw flour.

You'll notice that edible playdough is made with lots of sugar, so a couple of nibbles here and there will likely be better (and healthier) than eating it all.

To store your edible playdough, keep it in an airtight container. It usually lasts up to three months, but the more your little one handles the playdough, the less you may want them to eat it.  Make sure to keep hands as clean as possible during playtime, too.

Marshmallow Playdough

To make marshmallow playdough, you need four simple ingredients:

• 6 large marshmallows
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• 5-10 drops of food coloring
• 4-5 tablespoons cornstarch

First, combine the marshmallows and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds. The marshmallows should puff up slightly. Next, add your food coloring. 

This is a great time to help your little one learn to identify colors, too. Start with a few drops, and slowly add more to get to your preferred color. It's now time to add the cornstarch, starting with four tablespoons. 

Stir those ingredients until combined. When the dough gets too hard to mix, knead it with your hands. Make sure the dough is cool enough for little hands before kneading. Slowly add more cornstarch if the dough is too sticky. The mixture should eventually come together into a smooth dough. 

Peanut Butter Playdough 

Here is another quick and easy edible playdough recipe made with peanut butter. 

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (Almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or any other nut butter works as well)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

Mix the three ingredients together in a large bowl. Once you can’t stir with a spoon, knead it on the counter with your hands. Once the dough comes together into a smooth ball, you can start playing (and eating).

Icing Playdough

Icing playdough may be the easiest option of all. All you truly need are two ingredients (or three if you want to change up the colors). 

• 1 cup icing (vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate)
• 2 ¾ cup powdered sugar
• Optional: food dye

This recipe is the easiest one on our list.  All you need to do is measure and mix. You can do this with a spoon and then knead it by hand. If you have a stand mixer, you can use the dough hook attachment and let it work for you.

If your dough is too sticky, slowly add more powdered sugar. Once your dough comes together in a smooth ball and is sticky to the touch, the masterpiece is complete. This version of dough is especially sweet, so be sure your little one snacks sparingly!

 

What Are Fun Activities To Play With Edible Playdough?

Now that you’ve made your edible playdough, you can introduce some engaging activities to keep the fun going. Video calls tend to be a little challenging for younger children, who have difficulty staying focused. A little spark of creativity (and our patented technology) are important  when playing with clay from afar. 

Your first step is to hop on a Kinoo video chat and queue up your favorite engaging games. 

There are many ways to use Kinoo to play with dough — here are two options:

Imagine a Festive Meal With Cake and Pizza

Edible playdough is perfect for making pretend food. You and your little partner can play pretend restaurant and serve up creative concoctions with the cake decorator and pizza party games. Virtually whip up a cake or a pizza on the screen and then recreate your masterpiece with your playdough. 

Go To the Beach and Be Inspired 

With Kinoo, you can take a trip to the beach even if you are miles from the beach — or each other. 

Call your loved one with Kinoo and visit the beach together with a simple click. Work as a team to design your favorite beach scene, complete with whales, alligators, even koalas, and more. This is an excellent opportunity to work on animal name recall, and after your fun in the (virtual) sun, use your play clay to build sculptures of your favorite animals or the sandcastles you saw at the beach.

Kids’ Activities That Delight

Now that you know the benefits of edible playdough and are equipped with three easy, delicious recipes and two fun activities, it's time to start making your own play dough! 

At Kinoo, we love bringing families together, no matter how far apart they are, and helping kids learn the important skills that may need more support to prevent learning loss after the COVID hiatus. With the Kinoo app, it’s easy to get the conversations started to bond younger family members with their adult loved ones through play and learning — no prep time needed.

Like the perfect recipe book, Kinoo’s patented technology guides older relatives through engaging video calls with young ones, adding unique tips, conversation starters, and fun facts to help little minds grow and make memories that last.

Sources:

Cognitive development and sensory play | MSU Extension

Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to Know | FDA

The Impact of Dramatic Play in Early Childhood Education | Penn Foster

Homemade Marshmallow Playdough | Tip Hero

Cooking With Preschoolers (for Parents) | Nemours KidsHealth