Gingerbread Play Dough

I love to make homemade play dough.  This week, I used my favorite play dough recipe and added spices to make it smell like gingerbread.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way this play dough came out; it looks and smells fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the recipe:
1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
1 T. cooking oil
1 T. cream of tartar
1 c. water
spices (I used ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice - I didn't measure them, just put in some of each.  I used quite a bit because I really wanted it to smell good and I wanted the spices to turn the dough brown too.)
food coloring (I did not use food coloring for this dough; the spices took care of that!  If you want to make the dough darker - more like gingerbread, you could mix red and green food coloring to turn the dough brown.)

I measured the ingredients into a nonstick pot and stirred until well mixed.  Then I cooked it over medium heat until the dough pulled away from the sides and formed a ball.  I dumped it out onto a cutting board and once it was cool enough to touch, I kneaded it until smooth.

I gave C and R gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters and rolling pins to play with this dough.  I also gave them beads to decorate their gingerbread boys and girls.  On the recommendation of a friend (who happens to be C's Kindergarten teacher from last year) I warm the dough in the microwave before giving it to C and R.  It makes it even more enjoyable!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are two more of our favorite gingerbread books:

The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires features a cowboy hat and boots wearing gingerbread man in the wild wild west who runs from the rancher, the javelinas, and cattle, but finds himself in trouble when he meets a coyote.

The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle is about the Gingerbread Man escaping from his place at 398.2 on the library shelves and leading other literary figures and the librarian on a crazy chase through the library.  I think this book is a cute way to teach kids about the Dewey decimal system.