Pumpkin Pie Spice….you either love it or you absolutely hate it. I like it. lol I love to incorporate it into our sensory activities during the fall. Putting together this bin was lots of fun. Apart from the pie pans we had everything on hand. I picked up 2 packs of pie pans from the dollar store. I didn’t rotate my stockpile like I had planned and ended up finding a really expired bag of oats. That is what I used. It is very inexpensive. If you don’t like to use food for play, you can substitute it for something like pom poms, cotton balls, kinetic sand, or play dough. You can try my natural dough recipe!

Supplies you will need:

Pie Pans

Large Bag of Oats (may be substituted with non-food items like pom poms)

Whisks

Measuring Spoons

Rolling Pins

Spatulas

Felt cut into strips (may be substituted with paper, foam)

Pretend Marshmallows (may be substituted with white pom poms)

Mini Pumpkins (may be substituted for any other food like apples, cherries, blueberries)

Pumpkin Pie Spice (you can buy store bought, make your own blend, or just use cinnamon)

Large Container (I use a kitty litter box to contain most of the mess)

How to make it:

Pour oats into large container and add spices.

Mix them all up.

Get to baking!

I got the pretend marshmallows at Hobby Lobby in the kid’s craft section…they were on sale! Score! We have used the marshmallows for so many other activities. They are definitely worth the small investment.

When we got started I made a pie from scratch hehe and then had my 4 year old make her own. She used the rolling pin to roll out her felt dough. She used the measuring spoons to add the oats to the pie pans and then used the whisk to mix all of her ingredients. We counted scoops, marshmallows, and pumpkins. My 2 year old loved scooping up the oats and pouring them into the pie pans. We took turns being the baker and the customer.

I made some “recipe cards” for this to make it more engaging for my 4 year old. With or without the cards, this was so much fun to play with. I will be switching out the pumpkins and trying out different foods depending on the season to keep it interesting.

What kind of pies will you be making?