Kitchen Art: Raid Your Pantry to Make Fun Snow Dough

Sometimes referred to as cloud dough, this homemade concoction is a hit with kids of all ages… particularly preschoolers.

A little like sand (without the grit) and a bit like snow (without the cold), this delightful dough is super easy to make, fun to work with and easy to clean up.

And, children who participate in sensory activities (like sifting through snow dough) demonstrate greater problem solving, decision-making, communication and creativity skills than those who don’t.

So what are you waiting for? Cover the floor, raid the pantry and gather the kids.

SNOW DOUGH

Ingredients:

Flour*

Oil* (we used vegetable oil but baby oil will work too)

*As a rule, you need to use 8 parts flour to 1 part oil.

A plastic storage bin

Assorted tools – ice cream scoops, plastic cookie cutters, spatulas, etc

Directions:

Dump the flour into a big plastic container.

Put flour into a storage container.

Make a small depression in the middle of the pile of flour.

Carve out space in the flour.

Pour oil into the flour and mix, mix, mix.

Pour oil into the flour.

Mix, mix, mix!

You’ll know you’ve reached the right consistency when the dough molds nicely into shapes but then breaks apart, like snow – or sand.

Mold and form the snow dough.

Mold and shape the snow dough.

Once blended, your kids can play with snow dough for hours using a variety of kitchen or playground tools as they build castles, bake cupcakes and scoop ice cream. And while they'll think they're just having fun, you'll know they're working on their motor skills while investigating scientific and mathematical processes. No, really.