Summer Camp: Root Beer Float Playdough

Hello to all! We are so honored to be here with you today as one of
Design Dazzles 2012 Summer Camp Counselors!!!
Thank you for having us!

We followed and loved last summers series, and this years summer camp is sure to be even more exciting and fun! Please allow us to introduce ourselves to all of you.

We are the mother and daughter force behind Homespun With Love.

I am Kristin, the mother to Brittany and Adam. Wife and grandmother. Domestic diva, crafter, frugal shopper, thrift store lover, diyer, love to design parties and do it upscale with a little budget, love to pass on money saving, creative inspiration to others.

I am Brittany, the daughter. Wife and mother to Patrick 2 and Brynn 7 months old. I too am a domestic diva, love repurposing , recycling, designing printables, thrift shopping, crafting, sewing, scrap booking, photography and organizing spaces.

We put our passions together to share with others through our blog, Homespun With Love.

Now that you know a little bit about us, lets get to our Summer Camp 2012 project that just might leave you wanting to pick up some root beer and vanilla ice cream and make some old fashion root beer floats!

Root Beer Float Playdough! Kids will love this great summer time activity!

Some of our best summer childhood memories of summer included root beer floats and playing with playdough. Wanting to create similar memories for our children we gave it a little modern twist!

The root beer float playdough recipe is a simple, no cook recipe perfect for little ones and big ones to help with from start to finish. Aside from the fun factor of playing with the root beer float playdough, there is a little science lesson in the making.

Old Fashion Root Beer Float Playdough Recipe

from The Imagination Tree

2 cups plain all purpose flour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

2 cups boiling water

4 drops of glycerin for increased shine and stretch

1-2 tablespoons Root Beer extract{found ours at Walmart}

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl

Stir in the vegetable oil

Mix together

Stir in the boiling water (adult only) and Root Beer extract mix until combined

When it has cooled a little, knead it on a clean surface until it loses all stickiness and becomes smooth and stretchy. No residue should come off on your fingers. If it is still sticky add a little more flour, if too dry and crumbly add more water, a tablespoon at a time.

Store in airtight container up to 3 weeks.

This is what the Root Beer extract we used looks like.

Time to start making some summertime old fashion root beer floats! First pour in some good old fashion root beer. To give the look of root beer in the glass we took a natural fiber coffee filter and placed it in the bottom of the glass with the ruffled part facing up.

Dig in their and get yourself a nice scoop of that root beer ice cream, oh yeah, playdough!

Now place it in your float glass. Although we choose to use real glasses for older kids, little ones can have fun too with this. Just use plastic ware.

Keep your root beer playdough fresh in clear plastic food containers like these we found at dollar tree.

Did someone ask for a spoon and a cherry on top?! For the cherry we used a little red pom pom craft embellishment.

Almost ready to serve and enjoy!

And here you go! We found these great ice cream printables for free from

Emmy and Gabbie Paper Styles.

Set up a little ice cream parlor this summer and let the kids have some fun imaginary play!

There is such a sensory learning experience with playdough, especially when you make it root beer! The soft, cool, squeezable playdough is relaxing and works the muscles of the hands, arms and gives the fingers some exercise too.