Week 4- Part 2 - Cloud Dough

I used to be a preschool teacher before my kids were born, and I LOVED doing sensory tables in my classrooms.  We played with rice, water, sand, decaf coffee, and oatmeal, to name a few.  Since becoming a mom and and doing things in my own house, knowing I am solely responsible for cleaning it up afterwards, I resorted to cleaner things, like playdough for some sensory fun.  I came across this cloud dough on pinterest, and it peaked my inner preschool teacher interest.  I had my doubts b/c I had been sorely let down by moon dough.  The kids really didn't think it was that great, and I was not happy to be scrubbing tiny pieces of sand between the leaves on my kitchen table for weeks afterwards. That aside, I decided to go for it, and I am so glad that I did! 

This pin originated from the blog Juggling with Kids (http://www.jugglingwithkids.com/2011/11/cloud-dough.html).  The recipe is very simple.  You just mix 8 cups of flour with 1 cup of baby oil, and TADA!  You have cloud dough.  We pulled one of the containers off our shelf in the playroom to mix it in.  I would say plastic containers are the best for easy cleanup.  I am just going to stick ours in the dishwasher to clean it up. 

The kids helped mix the cloud dough together.  It was pretty easy.  You just need to really sift through and make sure there is no oil lurking in the corners.  It held up to its promise of being soft but very moldable.  We used cookie cutters, measuring cups, spoons, and small paper cups to play in the dough.  The kids made dough castles, dough cookies, and just dug around and played for almost an hour, when we had to stop them to get ready for dinner.  It was a success!!

The clean- up wasn't too bad.  The kids had to take showers afterwards anyways, so their clean-up was pretty easy too! :)  The only thing I might change for next time, is splitting the recipe in half and putting it into two containers, so they can each have their own, since there was a little squabbling at times over not being able to reach the dough.  Then again, this is a good exercise in sharing too!  One other change I would make is not having my daughter wear a long sleeved black shirt.  She was covered!! :)

Overall a great craft idea for the kids, and I think it might be good stress relief for adults too.  It was somewhat relaxing to mold the dough then crumble it then mold it again.  Ha!  We will definitely do this again.