Build-A-Road Playdough Play

Toy cars abound at our house, so it's always fun to find new ways to play with them. One thing the boys really enjoyed this past week was this new playdough invitation, with a slightly new twist on our playdough recipe.

This invitation was one that was definitely high interest for all the boys, even though they are at slightly different ages. 

For this playdough invitation we added one special ingredient: coffee grounds. We've done this before in our Spring Flower and Coffee Playdough Invitation. This time I wanted the playdough to look road like, so I added the grounds to give the dough a little visual texture. (I also upped the amount of vanilla to down play the coffee scent a little.) 

Ingredients: 

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/4 cup used coffee grounds

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Black food coloring (just a few drops to make it gray)

Directions

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large pot and mix with a whisk. Then add the wet ingredients and stir with a large spoon until thoroughly mixed. 

2. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until a ball forms. 

3. Knead the ball of dough gently for a few minutes. Set aside and let cool. 

4. Store in a covered container or plastic bag.

I was pretty pleased with my gritty "road look" but the texture was still smooth and playdough like. 

I set the playdough up with some road signs (printed from clipart images and taped to cut straws), small pieces of yellow pipe cleaner, floral rocks, and of course, matchbox cars. 

The boys began by each building a road, setting it up for their cars. Each had their own style. 

Eventually the two bigger guys decided to combine their playdough to create an even bigger road, complete with jumps. 

They wound up driving on it before they could quite finish. 

Big Brother experimented more with creating a road complete with yellow lines, which is why I had put out the pipe cleaners. He also added in parking spots, outlined with the rocks, and road signs at the ends. 

During the rest of the week the boys have experimented with different ways to create roads, and different ways to combine the cars and other items into the playdough. 

Do you have some car loving kiddos at home? How do they like to play with their cars?

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