Princess Play Dough Kit

I love making new sensory kits.  It's the best thing ever.  EVER.

I rotate new ones about 3-4 times a year - somewhat seasonally, but really, whenever I have the time and creative space.  Though the themes thus far have been fairly gender neutral, I decided to make a really girly Princess kit for Charlotte and a Star Wars kit for Will this winter.  

Because, come on, winter is hard with toddlers.  And the more options we have for inside play, the better.

Most of my kits are inspired heavily by Pinterest and especially the Mama Papa Bubba blog - this one is no different!  One piece of advice here, though...  Let Pinterest and blogs inspire, but then shop your house, and use what you already have on hand.  From there, fill in gaps with approachability.  

For me, this meant not making my own sparkle dough - especially when it was so cheap on Prime and the holidays were busy.  This also meant making use of some princess "littles" my mom had given me a few years ago, and some used jewels my sister was getting rid of.

I have been including some sort of pipe cleaner in just about every kit for a while - I've been amazed at what toddlers can do with them!  They're especially fun to stick in play dough to make antennas, trees, arms and lots of other creative things.  I have no idea what they will use these sparkle pipe cleaners for, but I'm sure they'll be put to good use.  

I also throw in large popsicle sticks in the majority of our kits because my kids like to use them as cutters or knives and for prying play dough out of the containers.  The rolling pins came in an old Melissa + Doug kit that has more than paid for itself over the last couple of years.

Again, I purchased pre-made dough for this kit, but Mama Papa Bubba blog has some great recipes and ideas for making your own!  There'd really be no need for this many colors, either.  Two or three usually keep our kiddos busy!

I hope Charlotte squeezes hours and hours out of this sparkly little kit this winter.  I'd love to hear from you!  What fun ideas are you using for inside play this season?