essential oils // all natural therapeutic play-doh

stell woke us up bright and early this morning (big surprise there) and asked what we were going to do today.  a long list of mama chores came to my mind: change and wash our sheets, make a pot roast, organize the nursery, sort laundry etc.  so to keep her busy and focused after homeschooling while i do my to-do's, i decided to make her some homemade play-doh first thing after my coffee.  to make our home smell like a spa and hopefully help my little lady calm down, i added some of my essential oils to the recipe.  genius idea, i know! actually, this has been all over pinterest and i've been meaning for some time to make this for our homeschool craft station.  i choose three oils that i know stella loves, and that also happen to be great and safe for kiddos: lavender, stress away, and grapefruit.

lavender: not only is lavender a true gem when it comes to relaxation, but it also helps with seasonal discomfort (allergies), eczema, and minor owies (cuts, burns, and scrapes).  we diffuse this one before bedtimes and it helps us all get ready to sleep, so naturally, this oil was going in my little one's play-doh.  give her all those zzzzzzz.

stress away:  this is a beautiful blend made by young living that i adore.  it smells of vanilla, cedarwood, lime, and copiaba.  basically, it's vacation in a bottle.  this essential oil does just as the name suggests, it promotes a calm nature and helps one unwind.  i use this as perfume and add it to my epsom salt baths at the end of a long day.

grapefruit:  this oils is very uplifting and fresh smelling.  i call it a happy oil and love that it is rich in the powerful antioxidant d-limonene, so it is nourishing to the skin.  i also like adding a few drops of this to my water/vinegar cleaner for an all-purpose spray and to water when i need a pick me up.

i love that each of these play-dohs have their own special oily job, but most importantly, that they foster creativity for kiddos who are eager to make something on their own.  stella is at that independent age where she insists on doing everything herself.  because this play-doh is all natural, including the young living oils which are safe to ingest if she happen to sneak a bite, i feel good letting her play while i make a hundred trips up and down the stairs.

here is the recipe, friends!

ingredients:    

1 cup water
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tablespoon of oil, i used olive oil
*food coloring
*essential oils, i use oils by young living because each bottle can be traced to its source and because of their seed to seal process.

to prepare, add all ingredients, except the food coloring and essential oil, to a large sauce pan over low to medium heat.  stir until the mixture starts to get clumpy.  take off the heat, transfer to a large surface, and knead into a big ball.  divide your play-doh into three qual parts, pressing your thumb into the center of each ball adding an indent.  to the center of each indent, add one to two drops of food coloring and five to ten drops of essential oil.  i color coordinated the essential oil bottles to the food coloring because that kind of thing makes me happy.

i hope you guys try it out!  for more of my essential oil recipes, head here.  if you are interested in purchasing young living oils and becoming a member of my team leave me a note and i'll help you out, or head to this page to sign up to purchase your own kit.  note: you never have to sell anything when you become a wholesale member of young living.  in fact, most people don't!  being on my team just gives you heaps of education and support from other oil users like myself.  make sure you sign up wholesale to get your 24% off.  that is not offered to retail customers.  happy oiling, friends!