Today Veronika opened up her first bake shop…with chocolate play dough that is! This no-cook recipe is super simple, and lends itself perfectly to both sensory and imaginative play.

In a bowl, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon cream of tartar. Slowly stir in 1 cup boiling water.

Turn the dough out and knead until no longer sticky (you may need to add a little more flour).

Once the dough was ready, I set up shop for Veronika! A few disposable cake pans, cupcake liners, and old birthday candles made perfect props. She was helping make “cupcakes” in no time.

Inserting candles was lots of fun. I realized we needed more toppings, so colorful pony beads from the craft bin made perfect “sprinkles”. Veronika loved pushing these into the dough and saying “Squish!”.

She also just loved transferring the pony beads from one cupcake liner to another.

Rolling pins and other kitchen tools rounded out our play. I showed Veronika how she could roll portions of the dough really flat.

This was so all so much fun that big brother Travis wanted to get involved. With him, we made it more about imaginative play. He was a “baker” filling my orders for specific types or shapes of cookies.

Chances are the kids will play this one for a while!