Make some beautifully scented rose petal play dough for a natural sensory play material and a lovely way to practise fine motor skills.
This is approximately to one-billionth play dough recipe variation here on this blog but I offer no apologies at all as play dough is, hands down, the BEST play material on the planet! So, the more colours, themes, scents and variations the better as far as I’m concerned 🙂
We often make variations of NATURAL PLAY DOUGH RECIPES as they’re the most satisfying to play and create with due to the amazing scent of herbs and flowers. They are a feast for the senses and wonderful for young children to explore using natural loose parts and simple tools. Click the titles to find our Herbal , Lavender, Mint, Eucalyptus, Cinnamon, Orange & Lemon and Autumn Spice to get you started!
This rose petal play dough recipe is lovely for a summer invitation to play and even better if you can use rose petals grown at home so that the kids can collect and prepare them as part of the process.
We’ve got three rose bushes growing at the moment and aside from the copious amounts of rose petal potions they’re making, they’ve also scented this lovely play dough.
How to make rose petal play dough
2 cups Plain Flour
1/2 cup Salt
2 tbps Cream of Tartar
1 cup Boiling Water
3-4 drops Glycerine
2 tbps Oil either vegetable/ coconut/ olive/ baby
Handful chopped/ torn Rose Petals- fresh or dried
2-3 drops Rose Essential Oil or Natural Rose Flavouring
Measuring cups [these must be standard measurement size!]
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Method:
Mix the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a bowl. Then stir through the oil. If using rose essential oil, add 1-2 drops at this stage, mixed into the oil to make it a carrier oil. This is important. Next, add the pink colouring to the boiling water and add that to the dry ingredients slowly, mixing thoroughly as you go.
Wait a few moments until it has cooled down enough to touch, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead thoroughly for 2-3 minutes until it is no longer sticky. It will become wonderfully smooth and stretchy. Now add a few drops of glycerine and the torn/ chopped rose petals. All ready to play!
At this stage we set out the beautifully fragrant rose petal play dough as an invitation to play alongside a selection of fresh rose petals, a wooden rolling pin, metal blunt edged scissors and some pieces of lace.
They loved the usual cake, cookie and sweet making with the play dough and particularly enjoyed adding decorations using the rose petals. They explored the effect of rolling the play dough on top of the lace and then pulling it off carefully to reveal the patterns left from the imprints. Miss 6 experimented with wrapping up her rose petal play dough cake creations with the lace acting as a border and it looked very ornate!
This rose petal play dough can be stored for a number of months in an air tight container.
If you loved this rose petal play dough idea please do share it on social media! Tell your friends about The Imagination Tree and follow along on Facebook and Instagram page for loads more daily play ideas.
You may like to try our fail-safe, 2 minute slime recipe too!
And our play dough recipe is the BEST EVER!
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I love the idea of using lace to make patterns!