5 Colouring Pages Filled with Summer Fun!

We love colouring pages for a lot of reasons – it’s quick and easy to keep kids busy, mess-free, and helps to support fine motor skills and creativity – plus it’s fun for kids and adults alike, so grab some pencil crayons and join in!

P.S. Did you download our Spring 2021 colouring pages, Summer 2020 colouring pages and Fall 2020 colouring pages yet?

If your child had a great time with Dough Parlour’s colouring pages, then please tag us on Instagram or Facebook (@DoughParlour on both), we’d love to see them!

Download each one individually by clicking on the ones you like best, or download them all at once »

FREE Holiday printables for your little elves! These adorable holiday scene coloring pages get everyone into the spirit!

P.S. Did you download our Winter Holiday 2021 colouring pages, Halloween 2021 colouring pages, Summer 2021 colouring pages, Spring 2021 colouring pages, Summer 2020 colouring pages, and Fall 2020 colouring pages yet?

If your child had a great time with Dough Parlour’s colouring pages, then please tag us on Instagram or Facebook (@DoughParlour on both), we’d love to see them!

Download each one individually by clicking on the ones you like best, or download them all at once »

Our 2022 Holiday Activity Book is jam packed with fun for every age!

We've got colouring pages, memory card games, I spy, a card template you can print and fill out for everyone on your list, and brand new cut and play pages! Build your own snowman, dress up a gingerbread cookie, cut out and colour ornaments you can hang on the tree, and count the marshmallows in the hot cocoa! 

Download it today and have a different activity every night! 

Easy, Low Mess Crafts Everyone Will Enjoy!

The summer has flown by so fast! With fall vibes in the air and children back to school, we wanted to share some indoor fall activities to keep the fun going. Since there are only a few hours after school to do something with your children, it’s important to keep activities “easy to do.” This way, you won’t dread doing it and likely get it done.

Trips out to the farm are a great fall activity, but not when it’s raining and cold. So here are a few easy clean-up, fun activities your children (and you) can keep busy with.

Paper Plate Crafts

When we think of indoor fall activities, it’s normally brown or orange. But with paper plate crafts, you can do any colour and include a fall theme too, if you like!

Paper plates are usually something we all have in the kitchen. They make the perfect “face” for any animal, pumpkin, or even an imaginary monster. They can even be hung like a picture frame if your child prefers drawing something. The fun part of this craft is the actual paper plate since it’s something different than flat, boring paper (kids oddly enough, notice these things)!

With a few markers and, if you’re up to it, some construction paper, glue, and scissors, your children can pour their ideas onto their plates.

Here are some easy paper plate craft ideas you can try!
• Flowers
• Car
• Butterfly
• Fall Themed Paper Plate Crafts

Puppets

Sock puppets or brown paper bag puppets are lots of fun to make. Your children can create endless puppets with a bit of glue, pipe cleaners, or yarn. They can use their puppets to put on a play or enjoy the moment with their new friend(s)!

You can even do an indoor fall activity play date! Invite friends over and make it a puppet party! If children get really into it, they can also create props and make a puppet box to put on a skit. The sky is the limit, and it doesn’t take much to do.

• No Sew Sock Puppets
• Easy Paper Bag Puppets
• Fall Leaf Puppet Craft (uses popsicle stick – no sock or bag needed)
• Pipe Cleaner Finger Puppets

Fall Dough Play Mat

Fall activities are surrounded by apple orchards, pumpkin patches, jams, leaves, candy apples, and the biggest celebration in Fall; Thanksgiving! We’ve created a double-sided, laminated mat that features these fall themes.

One side of the mat has a tree trunk that desperately needs some fall leaves to fill it up! Children can use six delicious scoops and a handy leaf cutter from our Fall Box to complete the tree. It’s hours of focused creative attention: rolling, cutting, placing, and designing their tree.

On the flip side of our double-sided mat is an empty plate. The sky is the limit for this one! Children can fill the plate with whatever they can think of. We’re sure they’d be inspired by the yummy smells of their dough scoops! A special touch was added to cultivate gratitude and focus children’s thoughts. At the bottom of the mat, we’ve written, “What are you grateful for?” This small addition is a powerful teaching opportunity for parents to nurture a sense of appreciation in their children.

Dough Parlour Fall Box

Since play dough is our thing, we’d like to nominate our Fall Box as the perfect indoor fall activity!

Our Fall Box perfectly fits into the category of an easy-to-do indoor activity. Everything a child would need for hours of fun and easy clean-up is included in each box. Our Fall Box offers children neat stampers, cutters, and an array of colourful, fall-scented dough Scoops!

Our Fall Box Includes:
🍎 Candy Apple
🎃 Pumpkin Spice
🤎 Cinnamon Roll
🥧 Apple Pie
🖤 Blackberry Jam
🍏Caramel Apple
✅ Four stampers – a turkey, a pumpkin, an acorn, and a leaf
✅ Two BONUS metal cutters - a large pumpkin and an animal claw (turn upside down and use it to make a ghost!)

Whatever indoor fall activities you do, remember to have fun! A little mess may create more work, but it also gives you priceless memories! What indoor fall activities do you enjoy doing with your child? Share your ideas below!

FREE map printables for your those precious moments you need to prep a meal, entertain on a rainy day, or just because we love to colour! Colour the provinces in the Canada and the States in The United States of America - what colours are you going to choose?

Download the PDF »

It’s nearly Christmas! Everyone’s excited to go shopping for gifts and can’t get enough of the lights and collective joy that’s in the air.

Make this holiday season extra special by creating DIY holiday decorations with your kids. Not only will you be decorating your home with ornaments that have meaning, but you’ll also be creating memories your kids will fondly remember for years to come. It might even become a yearly tradition they’ll pass on to their own kids in the future!

These DIY holiday decorations are not just easy to make, they’re also pretty enough to be used as gifts and keepsakes. Your kids (and you!) will surely enjoy making these holiday craft ideas.

Pinecone Christmas Tree

This might be one of the easiest and prettiest DIY decorations there is. In fact, most of the materials you need are probably just sitting around your home:

• Pinecones
• Acrylic paint (you can choose any colours you prefer)
• Small wood slices
• Hot glue gun
• Small paint brushes

Paint the pinecone green. It’s arguably the most popular colour this time of year, but you can use any colour you prefer. White is also a great choice that will go with a green tree or natural theme.

Make sure to cover the entire pinecone with paint including those really small, hard-to-reach crevices. Alternatively, you can just leave those out for a more rustic look.

Next, paint small dots of yellow, blue, red or any colours you like all over the pinecone. This will serve as the tree’s “Christmas lights.” You can experiment further by adding a wooden star on top or glueing silver glitter around the cone to make it sparkly. Once dry, use the hot glue gun to stick the pinecone onto a slice of wood. Voila!

This holiday craft idea might be simple, but it can be used in a variety of ways. You can put cookies and other baked goodies inside or use them as a gift wrapper. You can also hang them on your Christmas tree as an ornament! What you’ll need:

• Brown paper bags of different sizes
• Snowflake rubber stamps
• White, light blue and dark blue ink
• Red and green baker’s twine

Stamp white, light blue, and dark blue snowflakes on the paper bag. Then, punch two small holes at the top. Thread a piece of baker’s twine through the holes and tie it together.

Have any empty tin cans lying around at home? Don’t throw them away just yet! You’ll be needing them, along with these other items, for this Hanukkah DIY craft project:

• Clean cans
• Hammer
• Nail
• Marker
• Light blue, white or silver metallic paint
• Holiday-scented tea candles

Fill the can with water and put it in the freezer for a few hours or until the water turns to ice. This will make it easier for you to punch holes into the can.

Draw a Star of David on the can. Use a nail and hammer to lightly tap holes across the lines you’ve drawn. You can let the ice melt on its own or pour hot water over it to melt it faster. This part of the DIY holiday craft should only be done by an adult.

When the can is dry, let your kids paint the can with metallic paint. Put the tea candle inside and let this pretty tin can lantern light up your home!

Clothespin Snowman

With a little makeover, you can transform boring clothespins into cute holiday decorations. You can use them to hold gift tags, to-do lists, and your favourite artwork made by your kids. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Natural wood clothespins
• Coloured yarn
• Orange-coloured playdough
• White paint
• Black marker
• Paintbrush

Paint the clothespin white. You can coat it once for a more natural look or do several layers for a more even tone. Make sure to open the clothespin once in a while as it dries so it won’t be glued shut.

Once dry, take a short piece of coloured yarn and tie it around the clothespin. It will serve as the snowman’s “scarf.” You can glue the yarn to the clothespin to secure it.

Draw two black eyes, mouth, and buttons on the clothespin using a black marker. Shape the orange playdough into a small triangle and glue it where the nose should be.

Have you taken your pick from our DIY holiday decorations list? We hope you did!

If you’re pressed for time, you can still do some holiday crafting with your kids to get into the holiday spirit with our Winter Holiday Box, Build-Your-Box Gift Set, and our limited edition Holiday Gift Bundle.

All our playdough products are vegan and don’t contain synthetic fragrances and preservatives. If you have any questions about how our products can be stored to make them last longer, get in touch with us or visit our website for more information.

Baking with kids can be messy, but nothing is more exciting for them than kneading and pounding on the dough as they use their sense of touch to mould and mash it into shape. As a parent, it’s always exciting to see our kids get enthusiastic when using their rolling pin to flatten the dough and then scoop and pour batter into baking pans!

But looking beyond the mess, letting your kids help in grown-up activities like baking teaches them more than baking itself. Counting and measuring the ingredients sharpens their mathematical ability; it teaches them about structure, that rules have a reason, and that they’ll get a tasty reward if they follow directions.

Most importantly, baking allows both parent and child to communicate, collaborate, and work towards the same goal: delicious treats that smell just as good as they taste!

3 Easy Baking Recipes for Kids

Some baking recipes are hard to follow. So, we’ve picked those that are simple and with ingredients you can easily find in your pantry.

1. Rainbow Jello Cookies

Let your eyes and taste buds feast on these colourful jello cookies!

Ingredients:

• 4 small boxes of jello mix, assorted colours
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• ⅔ cup softened butter
• 1 ¼ cup sugar, divided
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Food colouring

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C or 400 F. Place a sheet of parchment paper on two baking sheets. Set aside.
2. Combine the butter and one cup of sugar in a mixing bowl. Cream together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well each time.
4. Add the vanilla and mix.
5. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-combined.
6. Divide the dough into four portions (one colour of jello for each portion).
7. Add 1 ½ tablespoon of jello mix to each portion.
8. Add 3 to 4 drops of food colouring of the same colour to each portion. For example, if you used a yellow jello mix, then the food colouring must also be yellow. Mix until the colour is even.
9. Roll the dough into one-inch balls and roll it into the remaining ¼ sugar. Place it on the baking sheets.
10. Flatten the dough with a glass.
11. Put in the oven and bake until the bottom is golden brown

2. Dalgona Cookies

These popular South Korean cookies were a common street food staple sold by the elderly in the ‘60s. The traditional way to play with dalgona cookies is if you manage to cut out the shape drawn on the cookie without breaking it, you get another dalgona for free!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 to 3 pinches baking soda

Instructions:

1. Put the sugar in a stainless steel ladle and hold it over low heat.
2. When the sugar begins to melt around the edges, use chopsticks to stir it.
3. Continue stirring. Control the heat by raising the ladle a little when the mixture begins to smoke. Mix until the sugar is melted completely.
4. Once the melted sugar has cooled off a bit, add the baking soda. Stir vigorously. Move it away from the heat so the bottom won’t burn.
5. When the mixture becomes frothy and has turned a light caramel colour, pour the mixture on parchment paper. Use a silicone spatula to scrape the mixture off the ladle.
6. Let the mixture cool for a few seconds before pressing it down to your desired thickness using a lightly oiled measuring cup.
7. Use playdough cutters to stamp a shape, taking care not to press all the way through.

3. Sugar Cookies

Another recipe that uses different quirky shapes is this old-fashioned sugar cookie recipe. For this one, you’ll need:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp baking powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 C or 350 F. Put parchment paper on a baking sheet.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until creamy.
3. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat until combined.
4. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Slowly add it to the wet ingredients and mix.
5. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours.
6. Roll out the dough to ¼” thickness.
7. Cut out shapes like dinosaurs or unicorns and place them on the baking sheet.
8. Bake until the edges are golden.
9. Let the cookies cool before frosting.

Share Precious Moments With Your Child Through Baking

Yes, baking with kids is a messy affair. But when you and your child work together to achieve a goal – in this case, a delicious cookie – the experience becomes extra special.

At Dough Parlour, we understand how important it is to share moments of bonding with your child in the safest possible way. That’s why all our products are made only from all-natural ingredients, including our food-grade rolling pins and cookie cutters!

If you want to know more about our products, get in touch with us or visit our website.

FREE Holiday printables for your little elves! These adorable holiday scene coloring pages get everyone into the spirit!

P.S. Did you download our Halloween 2021 colouring pages, Summer 2021 colouring pages, Spring 2021 colouring pages, Summer 2020 colouring pages and Fall 2020 colouring pages yet?

If your child had a great time with Dough Parlour’s colouring pages, then please tag us on Instagram or Facebook (@DoughParlour on both), we’d love to see them!

Download each one individually by clicking on the ones you like best, or download them all at once »