MYO: Aromatherapy Playdough for Kids

[Jane]

aromatherapy modeling dough
ingredients: 1 cup flour, 1 cup warm water, 2tsp. cream of tartar, 1tsp. cooking oil, 1/4 cup salt, Essential oils of choice (One should obviously stay away from oils that could cause a serious problem to the skin, etc).

If color is desired food coloring or Kool-Aid powder work well. Kool-Aid also comes in a nice color variety:) Mix all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until smooth.

Remove dough from the pan and knead until blended smooth. If you want colors, add food coloring or a pinch of Kool-Aid now until the desired color is made. Let cool.

Now to make it aromatic, roll the dough into a ball and push a hole in it with thumb. Add a few drops of an essential oil (usually 1-3 to start) and knead the dough thoroughly. Sniff.

Keep doing this until you get the aroma you are looking for.
Here are some single EO?s and color ideas that I like: Brown–Benzoin, Patchouly, or Cedarwood
Orange–Orange or Bergamot
Yellow–Lemon or Lemongrass
Green–Pine or Clary Sage
Red–Palmarosa or Geranium
Purple–Lavender or Ylang Ylang
Light Blue–Rosemary or Eucalyptus
Dark Blue–Sandalwood or Lavender
Pink–Ylang Ylang or Grapefruit
White–Peppermint or Sweet Birch.
Lavender scented in a deep purple colored dough is wonderful!!
Make small quantities and use them as office toys.

Why sit and squeeze a tennis ball or rub a worry stone etc, while on the phone when you can squish, squeeze, roll, pinch, mash, and sniff play dough?!
For packaging the dough as a gift, put each aromatic dough in a seperate zip lock baggie and label according to scent with the color of the wording coordinating with the color of the dough. Leave the white one blank–it will give them something to think about. From there one could put all the zip lock baggies into a decorative container.

The plastic containers baby wipes come in work well.

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