Peanut Butter Play Dough Recipe

This is just the most fun activity! I first heard about it when I was working at a country club, doing kids’ programs…Made for a fun & very TASTY activity. I’ve heard of several different versions since then…but this is my favorite…

Ingredients:
creamy peanut butter
honey (optional)
dry oatmeal
powdered milk

Step 1: Make sure kids have CLEAN hands & a CLEAN surface to work on. (They’re going to be eating this eventually!) Clean, smooth table (with or without plastic), or a plastic tray works really well to contain the mess.

Step 2: Every child gets a glob of creamy p’nut butter. (Creamy works best…but chunky’ll do in a pinch) I usually use a soup spoon and just scoop a bunch & wack it on the tray…alot stays on the spoon, so you can scoop alot. They end up with a glob a little bigger than a golf ball usually. Give them plastic forks to begin stirring it .

Step 3: Ask them if they want honey to sweeten it…not a mandatory ingredient, but most kids enjoy it sweeter. Give them a dollup or squirt, depending on what kind of dispenser you’re using. Just guess how much would be enough to sufficiently sweeten the amount of peanut butter they have. Tell them to mix with their fork.

Step 4: Now for the dry stuff…No magic order or amount here…start giving them scoops of oats & powdered milk…I usually just sprinkle some on & ask them to mix it up thoroughly & tell me when they need more dry stuff. The goal is to get enough dry ingredients into the mixture to be able to roll the “dough” in their hands without it sticking all over them. That’s it! And after they’re done playing with it, EAT! ( It’s YUMMY!!) Might want baggies on hand for leftover dough…this stuff is rich!

Side note for educators: I incorporated this FANTASTIC activity into insect week at a summer science camp I worked at years ago…How? Why, DUNG BEETLES, of course! After learning all about the different ways that dung beetles help to recycle…they got to become “official graduate dung beetles”!! They were instructed to roll their playdough into “dung balls” (just like the bugs! Except we used hands instead of feet, hehe)…at which time I told them “You may now eat your poop!” Lots of giggles & I think this may have been my most popular activity ever!