Thanksgiving is about to smell even better! This homemade pumpkin pie play dough smells just like the real thing, and it’s such a fun way to keep kids busy while you’re getting Thanksgiving dinner ready.
The best part? You can make it a few days ahead of time! Because the last thing anyone needs on Thanksgiving morning is another activity to prep while trying to get a turkey in the oven.
This recipe takes about 15 minutes, uses simple pantry ingredients, and doesn’t even require real pumpkin. Just add a few baking accessories, and you’ve got yourself a miniature pumpkin pie bakery!
Why I Skip the Real Pumpkin
You might be wondering why this pumpkin pie play dough doesn’t actually contain any pumpkin.
The answer is simple: I want it to last!
Real pumpkin puree adds extra moisture and makes homemade play dough more perishable. And since the whole point of this activity is to make it ahead of Thanksgiving, I’d rather skip anything that could shorten its shelf life.
Instead, I use pumpkin pie spice. It gives the dough that delicious pumpkin pie smell without needing any actual pumpkin. Plus, you probably already have most of the ingredients in your kitchen!
Pumpkin Pie Play Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup salt
- 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Orange food coloring
A quick note about the ingredients. Cream of tartar helps give homemade play dough that soft, stretchy texture. It’s one ingredient I wouldn’t skip if you’re planning to make the dough ahead of time. And if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make a similar scent using cinnamon with a little ginger and nutmeg.
How to Make Pumpkin Pie Play Dough
Mix your dry ingredients
In a medium saucepan, combine the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and pumpkin pie spice. Give everything a good stir so the spice is evenly distributed.
Add the wet ingredients
Pour in the water and vegetable oil. Add a few drops of orange food coloring and mix until everything is combined.
Don’t worry if the mixture looks pretty runny at this point. That’s normal!
Cook the dough
Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and stir continuously. At first, the mixture will look like a thick batter. As it heats up, it’ll start getting thicker and clumping together.
Keep stirring! Eventually, the dough will pull away from the sides of the pan and come together into one big ball. This usually happens pretty quickly once it starts thickening.
Let it cool
Remove the dough from the saucepan and place it on a clean surface. Let it cool until it’s comfortable to touch.
Knead until smooth
Once the dough has cooled enough to handle, knead it for a minute or two until it’s nice and soft.
If it feels a little sticky, give it a chance to cool completely before adding more flour. Warm play dough can feel stickier than it actually is.
And that’s it! You now have a big batch of soft, pumpkin pie scented play dough!
Make It Before Thanksgiving (You’ll Thank Yourself!)
Here’s what I love most about this activity: you can do all the prep work ahead of time.
It is the same reason I batch the rest of our Thanksgiving crafts in one go. An hour of prep on a quiet Sunday will carry you through the whole long weekend.
Make the play dough a few days before Thanksgiving, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and have all the accessories ready in a basket or tray.
On Thanksgiving morning, take the dough out ahead of time so it can come to room temperature and soften up. Then, when you need some time to finish cooking, just put everything on the kids’ table and let them open their own little pumpkin pie bakery.
No mixing ingredients. No cooking play dough. No last-minute setup. Just an easy activity that you’ve already checked off your list!
Storage tip. Homemade cooked play dough can often last for several weeks when properly prepared and stored, but I recommend making this batch just a few days ahead of Thanksgiving. Always check for mold, an unusual smell, or changes in texture before using it. Throw it away if anything seems off.
What to Put Out With Your Pumpkin Pie Play Dough
You definitely don’t need to buy a bunch of accessories for this activity. Before you order anything, have a look through your kitchen drawers. A rolling pin, a fork for pressing crust edges, a plastic knife for cutting slices and a few measuring cups will get you most of the way there.
But if you want to turn this into a full-blown pretend pumpkin pie bakery, here’s what I’d buy. You absolutely don’t need all of them – even just the pie tins, a roller and some cookie cutters would make a really fun setup.
Mini pie tins
Probably my favorite accessory for this entire activity! Kids can press their play dough into little pie tins, add pretend filling, decorate the crusts, and create their very own pumpkin pies.
Look for small pie or tart tins, around 3–4 inches wide. You can also use mini silicone tart molds if you prefer something softer without metal edges.
Whole cinnamon sticks
The best thing on this list, and the cheapest. Kids press them into the dough to make patterns, and working them through releases more of the scent as they play. Most people have ground cinnamon but not whole sticks, so this is the one pantry item worth ordering.
Skip these for younger children who still put things in their mouths – they are a choking hazard.
Fall cookie cutters
Pumpkins, maple leaves and other fall shapes are perfect for decorating the tops of the pies. Kids can roll out their dough, cut out little leaves, and arrange them however they want. You can even make a pie with a whole bunch of tiny leaves covering the top!
Mini dough roller or texture stamps
A mini wooden rolling pin makes the setup feel like a real bakery, and texture rollers or stamps are fun for adding patterns to the crust. If your kids love making pretend food, you’ll get plenty of use out of these beyond Thanksgiving.
Pie crust crimper
Such a fun little tool for making decorative pie edges. Look for a child-appropriate dough crimper or blunt pastry wheel that kids can use to press patterns and cut pretend crust strips. Avoid sharp metal pastry cutters.
Play dough frosting extruder
Especially fun if you make a little white play dough to use as pretend whipped cream. Kids can pipe swirls straight onto their finished pies.
Mini measuring cups
Such a cute addition for pretend baking, scooping and measuring out ingredients.
Mini wooden spoon
Great for mixing and scooping the pretend filling.
Mini silicone spatula
Perfect for smoothing out pretend pie filling.
Mini wooden serving board
Kids can display their finished pumpkin pies or pretend they’re serving customers at a bakery.
A large activity tray
Not as exciting as the others, but probably the most practical! Put the dough, pie tins and all the tools on a large tray to keep everything contained. It makes cleanup so much easier, especially when your kitchen is already busy.
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Make a Whole Pumpkin Pie Bakery!
Want to take this activity one step further? Instead of making just orange play dough, make a few different colors so kids can create an entire pumpkin pie from scratch!
Here’s what I’d do:
- Orange pumpkin pie filling: Use the pumpkin pie scented recipe above. This becomes the pretend filling for the pies.
- Beige pie crust: Make a small batch of plain play dough and leave it its natural color, or add a tiny bit of brown food coloring. Kids can roll it out, press it into their pie tins, and even make little lattice crusts for the top.
- White whipped cream: Make another small batch with no food coloring and a little vanilla extract for scent. Kids can roll it into little swirls or use a play dough extruder to create pretend whipped cream.
Then let them get creative! They can make miniature pumpkin pies, decorate them with leaves, create lattice crusts, cut slices, and pretend they’re running their very own bakery.
You could even add a few printable order forms or a pretend bakery menu for some extra imaginative play. And the best part is that all of these little pies are made from play dough, so they can squish everything up and start again!
Is Pumpkin Pie Play Dough Taste-Safe?
No. Even though this play dough is made with common kitchen ingredients, it’s not meant to be eaten.
The recipe contains a significant amount of salt, which can be harmful if swallowed in quantity. I recommend this activity for children who are past the stage of putting everything in their mouths, with adult supervision.
Pumpkin pie spice can also irritate sensitive skin and eyes, so have kids wash their hands after playing.
For younger children, skip small loose accessories and whole spices such as cloves and star anise, which can pose choking hazards. Choose larger, smooth-edged play tools instead.
More Thanksgiving Activities for Kids
Looking for even more ways to keep the kids entertained over Thanksgiving break? These four are the ones I come back to every year – one big roundup, two activities and a set of printables.
And if your kids love scented play dough, check out my rose swirl scented play dough for another fun sensory idea – I share more tips there for making and storing homemade play dough.
Cocoa play dough is the other one my kids ask for all winter, and if you have a toddler at the table, the easy feather poke activity is about as low-prep as Thanksgiving gets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use real pumpkin in this recipe?
Why is my play dough sticky?
How long does homemade pumpkin pie play dough last?
Can I make pumpkin pie play dough without cream of tartar?
Can I freeze pumpkin pie play dough?
Is this pumpkin pie play dough edible?
A Little Thanksgiving Prep That Goes a Long Way
There are already so many things to think about on Thanksgiving, and keeping the kids entertained shouldn’t have to be another big project.
That’s why I love the idea of having an activity like this ready to go before the day even starts. Make the dough ahead of time, gather a few baking accessories, and set everything aside until you need it.
The kids get to make their own little pumpkin pies, and you get a little more time to finish making the real ones!
And if you are putting together a whole afternoon of it, my free Thanksgiving activity sheets and Thanksgiving kids’ table ideas are the two I pull out every single year.
Adult supervision is recommended. This play dough is not taste-safe and is intended for sensory and pretend play only. Skip whole spices and small loose parts with children who still mouth objects.