Welcome to month 2 of the wonderful series of 12 posts about sensory dough and our experiments to make them “taste safe”! Today is Cloud Dough!
Last month we made foam dough which the kids (surprise, surprise) tasted. You will never guess what we used instead of shaving cream! Catch up with all our sensory doughs here.
This months sensory dough is called cloud dough and is traditionally made with flour and baby oil.
How to make Cloud Dough Recipe
Cloud dough is fluffy, dry and does not stick to your hands like the oil it is made of.
How to make cloud dough
We made our cloud dough with vegetable oil to make it edible and ultimately taste safe. Edible does not mean eat it by the spoon full! It means that if your toddler were to take a taste said toddler would be perfectly fine.
To make cloud dough mix in the 1:8 ratio. That is 1 cup of oil to 8 cups of flour.
You will need:
- All purpose flour
- Vegetable oil
- Oil based food coloring or powder food coloring
- a bowl for mixing
- a sensory tub for playing in
For our little play adventure I wanted to make a variety of colors so used 2 cups of flour per color with 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Please use your kitchen measuring cups and don’t guesstimate else your cloud dough recipe will be too wet. Making the cloud dough is also very easy and does not take much time. A great plus!
How to color cloud dough?
For the coloring you have two options. You can use powered coloring and mix it in the flour before adding the oil or you can use oil based food coloring and premix it in the oil before adding it to the flour.
I had oil based food coloring on hand so premixed into the vegetable oil. I used the tip of a teaspoon worth the more you add the deeper and darker the color.
Now, mix your ingredients in a bowl. You will have to get your hands into the mix to pinch the flour to distribute the oils and coloring.
Once mixed, line the colors up in your sensory bin and provide various items to play with. I let the kids use my kitchen measuring set.
Then the tea set got added by my preschooler when he joined in. (Using cloud dough for preschool is also a great idea.)
And my 3 year old also came along to inspect. He loves sensory things and urm, things that he could potentially use to cause a lovely mess! If you do this activity indoors a large bed sheet is recommended for under the sensory tub to catch those little messes.
Oh how he loved the feel of this cloud dough stuff! I love how the colors turned out too, although in hindsight I might have not made the green as it turned the entire bin grey washed out purple when everything was mixed together.
I also think I need a bigger sensory tub! When all 3 kids come to play which they very often do it gets bit crowded. Our perhaps I need a second tub and I can stick my 3 year old in it. haha. 😉
As usual the younger two did try to eat the cloud dough. Which is no surprise.
Other items brought to the cloud dough sensory bin included a wooden train set, various cars, some animals and the teaspoons from the tea set which resulted in my toddler offering me a bite of the cloud dough.
I hope you enjoyed this little how to make cloud dough post and that your cloud dough adventure is as much fun as ours was!
Taste Safe Cloud Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- 1/4 cup Vegetable oil canola / olive oil
- 5-10 drops Oil based food coloring
Instructions
- Make at least 4 colors. Use your kitchen measuring cups and don’t guesstimate else your cloud dough recipe will be too wet.
- Premix coloring in the oil before adding it to the flour.
- Mix your ingredients in a sealable plastic bag. Knead and shake around until mixed as much as possible.
- Before you play you will have to get your hands into the mix to pinch the flour to distribute the remaining oils and coloring. At this point, it should be mixed well enough that your hands will not stain.
- Empty out into a sensory tub for playing.
- If you do this activity indoors a large bed sheet or shower curtain is recommended for under the sensory tub to catch little messes.
Notes
Pin this post for reference or our other recipe for larger quantities!
Nicole says
I used spirulina powder for colour, turned out great!
Darcy says
I’m wondering if you have any idea how a gel food coloring would work with this recipe? Thanks!
Nicolette Roux says
it would work but not give the same color vibrancy as the oil based one. Also you would have to mix it more to distribute the color evenly.
Nicolette Roux says
So much fun! <3
Trish says
Thank you thank you for this! We just played with this today. Fantastic for a very energetic 2 year old boy in a snow storm. Again much thanks to you!
Nicolette Roux says
I’m glad he loved it!!
Amanda says
Thanks for the fun recipe! Our son just loved it. I put it on a large cookie sheet and he ran his cars in it for hours!
Nicolette Roux says
love it!!!
whitney says
Made a big batch, turned out great! was wondering if I can save it, so he can play again in a few days?
Nicolette Roux says
yip! It is good for a week or so
Vanessa says
Have you ever tried using powdered Cool Aid or Hello for color and scent?
Vanessa says
Jello not Hello 🙂
Nicolette Roux says
I have not. The color would be very bland with those though. but you can sure try!
Tiffany says
This recipe does work with gluten free multi-purpuse flour. I used liveGfree from Aldi and also liquid food coloring. It turned out perfect.
Stephanie says
Will it make a difference if I use regular liquid food colouring? Because where I’m from they don’t make oil based or powdered.
Thanks
Nicolette Roux says
It will also work but the coloring will not be as bright. So you might need to add lots and lots.
Becky says
Will it work with gluten free AP flour?
Nicolette Roux says
I have no idea! But it is certainly worth a try as I have used the same recipe on both normal flour and cornstarch.
Rachel says
This is one of the quickest fun dough recipes I’ve ever seen. We didn’t have white flower in the cupboard, so we used whole-grain flour and it turned out just like sand at a beach. We call it ‘sand dough’. A fun alternative to playing on the sand as we live in Arizona.
Nicolette Roux says
That sounds great!!
patricia says
Is it possible to use olive oil, coconut oil, or canola oil? My little ones are highly allergic to the soy bean oil in the vegitable oil.
Nicolette Roux says
yes! any kind of taste safe oil will do! I use olive oil in mine and have also tried coconut oil but the coconut oil is a bit pricey here by me.
Bethany says
I used crushed up chalk for the color and it worked really well; although it is no longer safe to eat. Also, how does this store? Can I put it in a ziplock bag for future use?
Nicolette Roux says
yes! I often store things like this in ziplock bags. should last a month or 3. Mine not so long as the kids always mess it or pour water in it or something. You know what you could do is add a cup or 2 of baking soda, mix and then make it fizz with vinegar in squirt bottles before you are about to throw it out!
Melissa says
Would non oil based food coloring work? I would love to make this today. Thank you
Nicolette Roux says
yes it would. except your colors would not come out as vibrant and bright. but it would still be colorful.
Inese says
Thanks! Will try tomorrow at my play group for Antarctic sensory bin.
Tracie says
I measured, but my flour still socks to hands…..I used a coconut oil, think that mAtters?
Nicolette Roux says
yes! using an oil other than stated in a recipe really does make it different. I would try adding more flour to see if it evens out.
jess fritzges says
Did it stain their clothes. I noticed a white shirt. Would it stain carpet?
Nicolette Roux says
No it did NOT stain the clothing. The carpet on the other hand I doubt it would stain it, but it would be a pain to remove the actual cloud dough. I suggest you use a large sheet or shower curtain under the bin if you are using it on a carpeted surface.
Marmie says
I love the cloud dough activity with the vivid colors but I am not sure where you find oil based food coloring. Suggestions?
Nicolette Roux says
They are available on amazon. Or you can try a local confectionery / bakery. they are labeled candy colors and used to color candy.
natasha says
How old do you usually introduce things like this? I made some for my 14 month old and she had absolutely no interest in it. I have also done a bag of coloured rice, bags of coloured ‘slime’ and a sensory bottle full of sparkles, etc. with the same results. She barely looks at them and goes back to what she was dong.
Nicolette Roux says
I think it greatly depends on the child. at 14 months old my kids loved things like sand and messy play. Maybe she just needs a bit more time. Have you tried playing with her in the cloud dough?
natasha says
Yes, I was playing with her, I think I had more fun than she did 🙂
kelacy says
Does the oil based food coloring stain hands and or clothes? Would love to do this for a birthday party for my daughter but the food coloring I’ve tried thus far stain everything…
Nicolette Roux says
once the ingredients are mixed it does not stain at all! While making this I did not get any stains either. Once you have mixed as far as you can with a spoon you will have to mix further with your hands. The coloring at this point will have been absorbed into the flour and oil.
Karissa Hinojosa says
How long does this dough keep for? I’d like my little girl to be able to play with it numerous times
Nicolette Roux says
Mine lasted a week before it was tipped out in the garden by one of the kids! I would say add some cream of tartar in there (prevents mold) and it should keep for sometime. have fun!
Amanda @artsy_momma says
Ooooohhh, I have never seen colored cloud dough! So pretty 🙂
Michelle @ Delightful Learning says
Wonderful tutorial! The colors are so pretty! The oil based color mixes so nicely. Love your little ones all crowed around the cloud dough. Precious memories!
Christy Garrett @ Uplifting Families says
This looks fun, I might have to try it.
Rachel @I Heart Crafty Things says
I love how vibrant and beautiful all your colors turned out!
Still Playing School says
Gorgeous!!!