Homemade Play Dough with Essential Oils

We started homeschool (yay!). Before I start explaining more about our curriculum, I will just say we are going really slow. Levi will be three years old in January, so we don't feel the need to do school everyday. We've been doing lessons about three days a week. It's been a wonderful adventure so far, both for me and for Levi. I love our curriculum and I feel excited everyday to dive into it. If you are not familiar with The Peaceful Press, that is the material we chose to start our Homeschool Journey. This curriculum was carefully crafted by Jennifer Pepito, a mother of seven children, who she has homeschooled from the beginning. She's a true inspiration for me!

The Peaceful Preschool is the book we use at home with Levi. It's a literature and project based curriculum for early learners. On top of that, I also follow her Peaceful Planner for everyday chores at home. Jennifer encourages parents to build a peaceful home, through meal planning, prayer, reading, educational indoor activities and field trips. It has been truly helpful for me as I set spiritual goals for Levi. Her book has a Bible Verse for each letter of the Alphabet, which means we get to meditate in the word of God every time we do school. Although Levi is so young, he's starting to understand the importance of prayer. Every time I tell him it's time to talk with the Lord, he says "pay" as he brings his hands together and forward. My heart can't hardly take it.

One of the recipes Jennifer has shared in her book is for Homemade Play-Doh made with regular play-doh ingredients with a touch of Lavender Essential Oil. The recipe quickly caught my eye and I couldn't wait to try it with Levi. The smell of Lavender in the kitchen made it for an even more special activity. The recipe is perfect for busy little hands, it was even therapeutical for me as I played with the doh alongside my little guy. He's always so busy, jumping from one thing to the other, but this time I was surprised to see he enjoyed the quiet and that simple moment we shared together while his sister took a nap.

My cousin runs a Goat farm a few minutes from our house, and she makes *really amazing* Goat Milk Soaps at her home. So we have tons of those with us (lucky!). The one you see in the picture is the Lavender Goat Milk Soap she makes. I guess it's safe to say I'm obsessed with everything that carries that calming smell haha!

Here's Jennifer's recipe:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2t spoon cream of tartar
• 1 TB spoon cooking oil (I used olive oil)
• 1 cup of water
• Several drops of Essential Oil (We used Lavender for its calming effect - suggested by the book)

Mix all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and stir vigorously over medium low heat until it forms a ball. When cooled to touch, give your child a ball to shape, or separate into four different bals and stir a different color or essential oil into each ball. Store in an airtight jar. 

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I hope you enjoyed this post! You can follow our Homeschool journey on my Instagram page. That's where the party happens! This week we hit 6000 followers and I was blown away by that. Very humbling for me. I had no idea where this road was going to take me when I started blogging, and to think of all the friends I've made thus far makes my heart incredibly thankful for every post I've shared. This has taught me Instagram is not about popularity, it's about the community you build with moms who are also doing their best to create the most exciting memories for their kids. So if you want to be part of this community with me, find me on Instagram @themasalins and say hi!

Love,

Bru Masalin