Educating Our Children | Valentine Candy Shop with Chocolate Playdough!
|

Valentine Candy Shop with Chocolate Playdough!

Sharing is caring!

Welcome to the Sweet Shoppe!

The other day I picked up the Play-Doh Sweet Shoppe Frosting Fun Bakery Playset and thought it would be a great toy to bring out for Valentine’s Day!   I wanted to make chocolates for yesterday’s Valentine’s Day Shop, but as usual, I ran out of time!   Some of the tools on the play set were a little difficult for 3 year old hands to use (like the frosting pump), so it gave me a chance to really get involved in play time too.

To get started, we made some chocolate scented play-dough from a recipe I found over at Nurture Store.  The girls thought this was amazing but I had to keep telling my 1 year old that it was not for eating!

Two young children are playing at a table with colorful Play-Doh and toy molds. The girl is focused on her creation, while the boy looks on. The table is cluttered with tools and dough. A kitchen is visible in the background.

 

There was a lot of fine-motor practice going on with this activity, and some patience as we tried to get the various components of the play set to work.  All the kids loved making different colored frosting for their cupcakes and adding other little embellishments to their Valentine’s Day treats.  Want to do a similar activity without spending the money on a set?

Here’s what you do!

First of all, make some of the chocolate play dough found over at Nurture Store (grab the recipe here).  Be sure you have plenty of salt in the house.  I used up our whole salt shaker and THEN realized we didn’t have any extra in the pantry.  My husband did not appreciate this rookie move.

Two glass jars with white lids sit on a speckled countertop. One jar is empty, while the other contains a small amount of mixed spices or seeds. Both jars have small handles on the side.

 

To make cupcakes (or mini-cakes!), use a muffin tin or a mini-muffin tin.  You could also use mini cupcake papers.  Silicone molds would be great since they are so flexible and you can “pop” the cupcake right out.  If you have a mold you don’t really use for baking, you could even cut it apart and then sharing would be WAY easier!

A red silicone baking mold with heart-shaped cavities rests on top of a metal muffin tray with circular cavities, both on a gray countertop.

 Frost Them Up!

In order to make the pretend frosting, stick some playdough in a ziploc bag and cut a little hole in the corner.  Some people even stick a little frosting tip in the corner first to give the frosting a fancy touch.  You could also roll the playdough into a long snake and then twirl it around the top for a fun swirl frosting design.

A green box of Giant Eagle resealable sandwich bags is sitting on a wooden table. The box displays the word Sandwich prominently in white letters and indicates it contains 100 bags.

 

Setting Up Shop

Now if I had my way, I would decorate our sweet shoppe something like this:

A baby changing table is transformed into an ice cream parlor. It features a pink polka-dot canopy with ice cream cone decorations, a menu board, various ice cream toppings, and labeled jars on shelves. Baby changing table to ice cream parlor is written in text.

Photo Credit: Ellzabelle Blog 

 …but apparently, 2 and 3 year olds don’t have the attention span to build something that elaborate.  Maybe next year!

You could also place your pretend cupcakes or chocolates into an empty berry container and put a bow on it to make it extra Valentine’s Day like!

A transparent container wrapped with a pink ribbon around the sides and a bow on top. The container is on a dark wooden surface with a curtain in the background.

Photo Credit: Four Crazy Kings Blog

Happy Valentine’s Day!

About the Author

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair smiles at the camera, wearing a black top and beaded necklace. She stands indoors, surrounded by light-colored walls, preparing a glittery gift to make and give.

Lindsey Whitney is a blogger over at Growing Kids Ministry.  A blog designed to help parents, teachers, and Children’s  Ministry workers who want to help the kids they love grow in their faith.   You can connect with her via twitter or on facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing is caring!

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *