I saw several recipes for Easter Peeps play dough on Pinterest and had to try it for my class! By far the easiest one with the best results was from 123 Homeschool 4 Me. It was super simple (I’m talking like 2 minutes to make!) and was the best consistency.
Making the Easter Peeps Play Dough
All you do is place 5 Peeps, 3 tablespoons flour, and 1 tablespoon of Crisco in a microwave-safe bowl.
Place it in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Let it cool for a minute, and then knead it. That’s it! Super simple!
The only thing is it only makes a small amount of play dough and I needed more for my class.
So I made a few more batches of the yellow and then decided to try blue bunny Peeps.
The blue turned out a pretty pastel color!
Using the Easter Peeps Play Dough for Learning Activities
My students LOVED it! We used it in our math groups with our spring counting mats to practice numbers and counting. Students rolled small balls of the Easter Peeps play dough using their thumbs and forefingers which was terrific fine motor practice and placed them in the ten frames! They thought the blue looked like robin eggs :).
We also used the Easter Peeps play dough for subtraction smash (a student favorite)! If you aren’t familiar with subtraction smash, students use the play dough as a manipulative to solve subtraction problems. I usually have my students either write the subtraction problem on their dry erase boards or on their desks with a dry erase marker (it wipes right off). They then make the correct number of play dough balls (the first number in the equation) and line them up. Then they smash the correct number of play dough balls (the 2nd number in the equation) with their fists. The number of play dough balls still standing is the answer.
A similar phonics activity is to use the Easter Peeps play dough for CVC word practice. Students write a CVC word from a list on their dry erase boards and place a Peeps play dough ball under each letter. As they say the sound of each letter, they smash the corresponding play dough ball with their fist and then they blend the sounds together while swiping up the smashed Peeps play dough balls.
Of course my students also just wanted to play and mold it, so I placed some in a play dough center along with our play dough toys and cutters. We also used it to make Easter shapes for math word problems/stories.
After use, simply wrap it up in saran wrap. If it gets hard, place it in the microwave for a few seconds. This really was a surprisingly easy play dough recipe and a great use for Easter Peeps!
