Look for the gold in the Rainbow -

A great fine motor activity for kids to hunt for the gold in the rainbow. Here your kids will use tweezers to get some gold coins out of a play dough rainbow. To complete the “leprechaun and gold pot theme” you can add a little cauldron where your kids can collect all the gold coins.

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Great play dough activity for St. Patrick's Day

Undoubtedly, playing with play dough is always fun whatever “theme” you use. However, nothing beats the beautiful colors in a rainbow.

Here I made my own play dough in the six different vibrant rainbow colors.

Obviously you can use the store-bought play dough but somehow my kids always end up eating the store-bought play dough. So, I always opt for my own taste-safe option which is very salty and nobody ends up putting the play dough in their mouth 😉

Homemade playdough recipe

This homemade playdough recipe will make plenty of playdough (~900g) and is the equivalent of 10 store-bought play-doh cups (3oz).

2 cups flour
3/4 cup salt
4 teaspoons creme of tartar
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Food colors

How to make your homemade playdough

Put all ingredients in a pot and mix with a spoon.
Heat up you mixture on medium heat while stirring continuously until the mixture thickens. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes.
Take the dough out of the pot and let it cool down for a few minutes.
After that knead the dough for about a minute.
Then split your play dough into 6 equal portions (one for each color of the rainbow).
Lastly, add a few drops of food color to the first play dough ball and knead until the color is well distributed. You might want to use gloves for this step since the food color can stick to your hands when it’s so concentrated. However, don’t worry the play dough won’t stain your kids hands. It’s just when mixing the color in that gloves come in handy.

You can see a video of how to make this play dough here.

How to store your homemade playdough

Wrap your homemade playdough in plastic wrap and put it in a ziplock bag. Afterwards store at room temperature for months. My last playdough is still super soft after nearly 10 months!

Looking for more ideas?

Check some of my other posts like this fun oobleck play for St. Patrick’s day. It’s the ultimate sensory experience!

Or what about a fairy small world with an awesome play foam. Both materials (oobleck and play foam) are extremely mesmerizing and will keep your kids busy for a long time.