Cloud dough and play dough

Last week we had so much fun making our own homemade cloud dough and play dough! Projects like these can be pretty messy, as you no doubt figured when you saw your child's red hands, but they're so much fun! It's great for the students to have had an active hand in adding ingredients, stirring, and watching the items transform into something totally different!

If you aren't familiar with cloud dough, it's kind of like moon sand--it's a powdery substance that holds together when pressed but is easily "re-crumbled" (is that even a word?) and never dries out! There are a couple of different recipes for homemade cloud dough; the one we used called for flour and vegetable oil (plus we added orange tempera paint powder and pumpkin pie spice). It smelled so good! You can also make it with corn starch and baby oil.

Happy kiddos enjoyed stirring the ingredients.

The homemade play dough is even more fun because there's a bigger transformation. Each child got to add an ingredient and stir it in, and then Mrs. Connie and Mrs. LeeAnne heated it up using the electric skillet. 

Stirring together flour, salt, and cream of tartar.

Adding a little bit of vegetable oil ...

We sprinkled in some red kool-aid powder for color, and apple pie spice for the wonderful scent. 

What a transformation when we added water! 

More water!

We stirred and stirred, and at first it looked like a soupy mess. But within a few minutes of being heated, it solidified to create play dough. It was hard waiting for our play dough to cool off, but we had so much fun playing with it once it was ready!

It almost seemed like the students had more fun with our homemade play dough than they do when we play with the store-bought stuff. It really makes a difference when they're able to take an active role. What fun!!