Homemade Cloud Dough

Ever heard of Cloud Dough before? It is possibly my favourite homemade messy play material and also one of the easiest to make! The recipe basically comprises of 1 cup oil to every 8 cups of flour and then simply mix with your fingers. I used vegetable oil because of Stanley's penchant for putting things in his mouth, but there are recipes online that also call for baby oil. Either seems to work just fine. Here I added pink food colouring and pink glitter, but I've also made a batch of blue Moon Dust with added peppermint essence for that extra sensory element. Whatever colour or scent you make it, no-one can deny that it feels A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I made this for one of my messy play classes and the mums seemed to enjoy running their fingers through it as much as the babies did! I love the way it feels soft and floury one minute, then almost damp and mouldable like sand the next. Fabulous stuff!

Another good thing about Cloud Dough is that it lasts a while when stored in an air-tight container. So, on a lazy day like the one we had last week, it's a great thing to simply get out and play with. I placed mine in a sand/water pit and added colourful plastic toys such as scoops, sieves and rakes. It's quite an easy material to clean up with a hoover, but seen as it was a lazy day, I took Stanley outside so that minimal cleaning was involved. I'd like to say he had hours of fun playing but on this occasion it only lasted 10 minutes - I had to tempt him back indoors when he wouldn't stop trying to eat clumps of it and I was worried about tummy aches. BUT, based on the way he played so enthusiastically in the sand on the beach at Anglesey, I'm hoping as he gets older this will become a firm favourite!