Pumpkin Sensory Dough – Fall Sensory Play

We love Fall and had a blast with our recent Fall Recipes for Play Series.  I have been patiently waiting the arrival of pumpkins in our stores and they finally arrived!  I know sounds a little silly, but this idea has been brewing for a while and it needs a real pumpkin.  Since both Allison and myself have been playing the pumpkin waiting game together, we decided to join forces and share our pumpkin gut play recipes at the same time.  2 great ideas for the price of one!  You can’t beat that.  Allison of Learn Play Imagine made made a gooey Pumpkin Slime, and we created a squishy Pumpkin Sensory Dough.

Ever wondered what to do with Pumpkin Guts?

Well look no further, here are 2 fun sensory play recipes that your kids will love!

Carving pumpkins is on of my favorite Fall family traditions.  There is something satisfying and wonderful about exploring the inside of a pumpkin.  We love roasted pumpkin seeds and eating pumpkin pie, but had yet to find a “recipe” that incorporates the pumpkin guts.  Why not use them to create a fun Fall Sensory Dough.

I totally love that this simple play recipe is mixed right in the pumpkin, meaning there is no need to dirty a bowl.  If you have ever been in my kitchen (minus my edited and cropped blog photos) you may wonder if I chose to mix it in the pumpkin purely because all my bowls were dirty.  Ha!  My lips are sealed, plus my kids thought it was a genius idea.  Shhhh…don’t spill the beans, my kids still think that I am totally brilliant and can do anything.  

Our Pumpkin Sensory Dough Recipe is a mix between play dough and cloud dough.  It is firmer than play dough, and has a moldable texture similar to cloud dough.  I really had no idea which was the more accurate description, so instead of loosing sleep over the title, I settled on sensory dough.

Kids love playing with regular kitchen utensils.  I love how they immediately pick up a tool and begin exploring.  They don’t stress if they are using it in the right way, they just dive right in and discover as they go. Love that!  I mean really, why wouldn’t tongs work better above your head?

 Even though the pumpkin guts (minus the seeds) took a little whirl in the blender, you can still see the wonderful texture that it adds to the dough.

The kids had a blast sprinkling corn starch around the play surface and the pumpkin.  I am sure they added way more than necessary to keep the dough from sticking, but they were having so much fun and totally focused on “their job”.

 Pumpkin Sensory Dough Recipe:

• 2  cups of pureed pumpkin guts ~ we placed the guts (minus the seeds) into the blender and pureed until it was smooth.  Since pumpkin guts are naturally wet, there was no need to add water.
• 2 to 3 cups of corn starch ~ You may need more depending on how wet your pumpkin guts are.
• 1/2 cup of baking soda
• 1 TBS of dish soap ~ any soap may work, but we used dawn dish soap.
• Spices (optional) ~ however they do smell great.
• Pumpkin seeds to add back into the dough

Puree the pumpkin guts (minus the seeds) until smooth and pour back into the cleaned out pumpkin.  Have your kiddos dump the 1st cup of corn starch directly onto the pureed pumpkin and mix.  You can mix with a spoon or your hands.  Both work great.  Next, add in the Baking soda and mix again.  Finally add in the dish soap and the rest of the corn starch.  Depending on how wet the pumpkin gut puree is,  you may need to add more corn starch.  Just keep adding until you have a moldable dough.

Ready for another amazing Pumpkin Gut Play Recipe?  Check out this super gooey and oh so fun sensory experience.

Learn Play Imagine is all about sensory play, and their gooey Pumpkin Slime looks totally amazing!

For more Fall Pumpkin Inspiration, check out our…

Yarn Pumpkins

Kool-aid Pumpkins

36 Creative No Carve Pumpkin Ideas

5 Minute Paper Plate Pumpkin