For some quick and easy, holiday inspired play, I whipped up some peppermint scented Candy Cane Playdough. The whole activity took me about 10 minutes or less to set up (including making the playdough from scratch) and kept the kids busy for well over an hour. And, being playdough, they've been back using it every other day this week. (Although, it's more a pink coloured playdough now.)
Ages: 2+
Skills: Creativity, fine-motor, language, sensory, etc.
To make our Peppermint Scented Candy Cane Playdough I made a batch of our no-cook playdough. (Takes about 4 minutes to make)
I then divided the mix into two and coloured one half red (using red food gel colouring) and left the other half plain so that it would be white.
To the mixture I also added some Peppermint Extract to give it a candy-cane scent. Extract is meant for flavouring more than the smell so it's not super strong but safe if a small amount is consumed. For a stronger scent that will last longer I would recommend using Peppermint Oil. (I used the extract as that's what I already had in the pantry)