I wish you could smell through the computer because the smell of this lavender is amazing. We are incredibly fortunate to have a small garden—one of my “asks” when we started to figure out what we wanted to plant, was a lavender bush. Lavender is best known for its’ relaxing, soothing properties—people use it in potpourri, essential oils, creams, laundry detergent… and also in no cook homemade playdough!
Lavender No Cook Play-dough
There are several ways to incorporate lavender into sensory play—you can add a few drops of lavender oil to rainbow rice, pluck off some branches for mud soup, or make a lavender scented bubble bath. We decided to add some fresh lavender into our no cook playdough.
Playdough in our home is a go-to when my children are cranky (tired, hungry, bickering) because it is instantly soothing. The combination of no cook homemade playdough and lavender seemed like magic.
Learning Opportunities with Playdough
Whenever I mix up a new batch of play dough, I invite my children to participate—there are so many amazing learning opportunities. To get started, I invite my children to come out to the yard and cut off a handful of branches from our small bush (great scissor practice). Then, we had to pluck off the individual buds (great fine motor development). Once the buds were ready, we made a fresh batch of play dough (great practice for measurements and mathematical concepts). They mix and knead the dough which is great for making their little arms stronger and building upper body strength.
Check out pur great no cook homemade playdough recipe HERE.
I added in some lavender to the pile of dough and kneaded it in. I also left out a few branches as an invitation for my children to mix it into the dough. Your little ones can explore print making or talk about nature. My children asked me why it is okay that we pulled these branches, since I usually tell them not to pull things from the garden. This created an interesting conversation about taking care of the garden and appreciating the things we grow.
We do not normally add in any coloring so the lavender buds are really defined, but you can definitely add a few drops of a beautiful purple to compliment the smell.
At first, the smell of this no cook playdough was very faint (but my house smelled amazing). The smell of the dough has become stronger each time we use it and kneed it.
A little secret… The amazing benefits of lavender play dough can work on you, too. Pull up a chair with your children and grab a ball of lavender play dough for a little aromatherapy stress relief.
Jessie is a mom of two amazingly creative children–ages 4 and 2. She loves having her home full of sensory play and process art. Jessie also runs her own account, Hands In Handmade where you can find more inspiration for play or check out her sensory kits.
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