Scented play dough is a great a way of building muscles in young children’s hands, providing and opportunity for “heavy work” for a young child or a play activity to keep children busy and entertained. Playing with play dough supports creative development and for children to use their imagination in a play situation. At Sprouts Child Occupational Therapy we have also been using scented play dough during feeding therapy sessions as one treatment method for children who have sensory processing or feeding difficulties and high anxiety to a multi-sensory experience.
As therapists we have many reasons why we would use play dough, including fine motordevelopment, developing imagination and play skills, introduction to messy play or as an activity as part of a sensory diet. However at SprOuTs we have recently been using scented play dough within feeding therapy sessions.
For children who have selective eating it can take many steps for them to transition from being in the same room as a non-preferred food to being able to consume it. This is where using play (the child’s “occupation”) in feeding therapy is beneficial as they are not being requested to EAT the food in the first instance. We recently used scented play dough during the first feeding therapy session with a child who was incredibly anxious that she was going to be asked to try new foods. We used scented play dough to expose her to a new food smell with no expectation that she was going to eat it.
Interacting with a food substance in a playful way is of significant benefit for children with selective eating. Scented play dough enables a child to touch, smell and interact with a food item in a playful and non-threatening way. This can be particularly helpful when working with children who are sensitive to food smells. These children will frequently gag or even vomit from the smell of non-preferred food. Being able to play with something that has a food smell incorporated into it can help prepare for them for feeding therapy and the child’s journey of increasing their tolerance to new foods.
Play dough is also a fantastic messy, but not too messy, play activity. This is a great option for children who don’t like to get their hands messy. These children will frequently play with play dough (but may still need a towel to wipe their hands on) more frequently than traditional messy play activities.
We have used scented play dough recently with a young boy who has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). He demonstrates significant sensory sensitivity especially to smell and touch. The scented play dough enabled him to interact with a messy play activity in a non-threatening way and through the use of the scents he was exposed to two new smells. This has helped him identify mint as a scent that he likes, he is now incorporating the mint smell into his “tool box” to use when he becomes overwhelmed by smells in the community.
From a sensory perspective we know that there are some smells that are calming and others that are more arousing – and this can be different from child to child. The type of scent to include in your scented play dough will depend on what you are wanting to achieve. Scents that you can incorporate include, but aren’t limited to:
- Basil
- Chamomile
- Chocolate
- Cinnamon
- Coconut
- Eucalyptus
- Gingerbread
- Lavender
- Lemon
- Mint – peppermint – spearmint
- Nutmeg
- Orange
- Porridge oats
- Rosemary
- Strawberry
- Vanilla
For some scents you may use the actual natural product, like nutmeg or cinnamon powder, and porridge oats. For other scents you may use a tea bag infused in hot water for chamomile or berry. If you use oils, we recommend using essential oils which will give you a more pure and realistic scent than food essences which will have a more manufactured smell. While we believe you can substitute the juice of citrus for the cream of tartar we recommend you opt to use an essential oil for a stronger scent and longevity of the play dough (e.g no mould). For herb scents (eg, rosemary, basil and mint) you could use essential oils or if shelf life isn’t an issue we recommend incorporating the fresh herb. You can also incorporate the natural product into your play activity such as using cinnamon bark as a rolling pin, lavender as flowers in garden pots or ripping and cutting fresh products into the mix. Adding some colour through the use of food colouring can make it a bit more fun too.
We have been asked recently by various people for our scented play dough recipe. Here it is…
Scented Play Dough Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups flour
½ cup salt
2Tbsp cream of tartar
2 Tbsp oil
Up to 1 ½ cups boiling water
Food colouring (optional)
Scent of your choice (oil or natural)
Method
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add the oil to the dry ingredients.
In another bowl mix the boiling water with the oils/scents and food colouring. Add the water to the dry ingredients in increments until it feels just right.
Stir continuously until the mix becomes sticky and a combined dough.
Allow the dough to cool down and then take it out of the bowl and knead it for a couple of minutes until the dough is soft, not sticky and holds together.
Scented play dough can be kept for up to 6 months (although we have some that is well over 18
months old and still fine). Store it in an air tight container or zip lock bag. Don’t put it in the fridge as that will make it sticky. Note that if you choose to use fresh herbs or flowers then the shelf life will be significantly shorter (a few days to a week).
Have fun and be creative with your scents. If you find a great scent that we haven’t included in our list we’d love to hear about it – feel free to share on our Facebook page.
Please contact us if your child has difficulties with sensory processing or feeding and we are happy to develop a plan to support your child.