Sensory Tub--Homemade Cloud Dough

Someone in my June 2011 mom's group shared a recipe for homemade cloud dough.  I guess it is essentially the same or similar to moon sand, although we have never played with that.  Her kid loved it, and then all of the other moms that gave it a try said their kids loved it as well.  We gave it a try yesterday.

The original recipe calls for 8 cups of flour (you can use any kind) and 1 cup of baby oil.  Some people said that you can use any oil--olive oil, canola oil, coconut oil.  This is especially helpful if you have a kiddo that likes to put things in their mouth.

Olivia is past that stage, so I went with baby oil.  Originally I was planning on doing half the recipe, but got carried away and poured a whole cup of baby oil in.  That left me committed.  I ended up using all of the flour I had in the house!  It wasn't quite 8 cups, but it was close. :)

There were all sorts of ideas on Pinterest about adding color and scents.  Most of what you needed to do this, I did not have on hand (checking Pinterest was an after thought).  So this time we just did the plain old recipe and used some tools and cookie cutters.

Our whole house has carpet except our kitchen.  But the kitchen is right above the unfinished part of the basement.  On days when it is 5 degrees outside, the tile is really cold.  I thought that I could just throw a beach towel down and we'd be good.

Yeah.... so this was THE MESSIEST thing we have ever done!

Generally Olivia tries to be neat.  She doesn't like to be dirty.  However, this time she didn't seem to have any comprehension when it came to "leave it in the bucket!"

She mostly played with the tools until I told her she could use her hands.  She actually liked how it felt.

(Don't mind the hair--she is in desperate need of a haircut!)

This is her saying "I didn't mean to (fling the spoonful of cloud dough)" when in reality she had ever intention of doing just that.

So she had fun.  It lasted about 20 minutes.  I'm glad I was able to give her the experience, but I was also glad that it was over.  I'm not sure my 38 week pregnant patience could have taken much more.