Christmas Pudding Play Dough 2012

Yesterday was the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent & is often called Stir Up Sunday, the day traditionally you make (& stir) your Christmas pudding! So yesterday we made our Christmas pud & each made a wish as we stirred the ingredients together. Minnie isn't a big fan of this classic Christmas dish, so instead we decided to create Christmas Pudding Play Dough! We created an impromptu version last year, but with a little more planning this year we came up with this aromatic version!

To make our Christmas Pudding Play Dough we started by making a batch of chocolate play dough

2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
3-4 tbsp of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons of sunflower/olive oil
1-2 cups of boiling water

We mixed the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, & then added the oil before gradually adding the water. Mix together with a spoon, before kneading it into a dough with your hands.

To help create the scent of a Christmas pudding Minnie added a few pinches of Allspice, Cinnamon, & Ground Ginger. She obviously enjoyed this, & added more & more! Soon the kitchen was smelling like a spice factory, & I was wondering if the play dough would start to dry, but amazingly it retained it's original consistency.

I set out a few 'alternative' ingredients which could be added to the dough; hammer beads, sequins, glitter, & cinnamon sticks. I purposely didn't suggest which ingredients they could represent, instead Minnie & I looked up a Christmas pudding recipe together & she decided what they could be. She also added a few extras; small coloured pebbles, & different coloured glitter.

I wish you could smell this play dough, the scent is so evocative of Christmas!

Minnie used a bowl to make a dome (pudding) shape & then set to work decorating the top!

I love her play dough holly berries & leaves on the top, & I think you'll agree the cinnamon sticks add a certain something to this pud!

She dished the pudding up for her toys, & added some 'ice-cream' play dough that we had left from our owl ice cream.

A few 'sprinkles' were added to the pudding & it was ready to serve to hungry toys!

This has been great to explore again, & to observe the different ways in which Minnie has played with it. It's a treat for the senses, & a great way to explore a traditional Christmas dish, even if you don't like the taste of the real thing!