Fun Homemade Play Sand For Toddlers

After successfully making my first homemade play dough for my daughter, I was eager to make this homemade play sand for her. This recipe is really easy ~ no cooking required. All you need to do is mix two ingredients together. Pretty simple right!

The key ingredient is to use Whole-Wheat Flour. It gives the texture and color like real sand. The sand was soft when you first make them, and if you let it sit for overnight, it will get softer. This is because the oil was well absorbed into the flour.

Other thing that I've observed is that the sand was less oily on Day 2, compared to Day 1. I found that the base of my cardboard box has absorbed most of the oil, which is good. So, if you are using a plastic box/ container, you may want to lined them with few sheets of baking sheets.

For the container/ box, preferably to use a shallow one for easy access and play. This box which was used to keep mandarin oranges was the perfect size. I've saved it from my Chinese New Year.

Happiness has no price tag. She loves her new play sand. Loving every second of her laughter!

Here's her 11 months old brother joining along.

But he was more interested in the tools rather than playing with the sand.

As you can see, the floor was pretty clean, right? Don't get cheated by this. It was because as I was watching them play, I sweep the floor when there were too much of sand on the floor.

It is advisable to put on an apron for easy cleaning up. The sand can really get into the clothes and if it does, clean it up with a lint roller before washing the clothes. I've learned this the hard way! Haha

FUN HOMEMADE PLAY SAND FOR TODDLERS
(Recipe Source from Fun-A-Day)

Prep Time  : 5 mins
Cook Time : NIL
Total Time : 5 mins
Makes       : 7 1/2 cup sand

Ingredients:
1kg whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oil
Few drops artificial flavoring (optional)

Directions:
Lined the bottom of your container with 3 - 4 pcs baking sheets.

1. In a big mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients until well combined. Pour into prepared container and start building your sand castle away!

Notes:
● I used blended cooking oil and it has an unpleasant smell. So I added a few drops of artificial flavoring to cover up the unpleasant smell. You may omit this if you are using vegetable oil.

● The sand will get softer on Day 2. This is because the oil was well absorbed into the flour.

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Make this recipe? Don't forget to snap a photo of it and tag #msyummyliciousrecipe on social media! I would love to see them! Enjoy my recipe!

First Commenter...(+/-)

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Homemade Sensory Playdough For Toddlers

My daughter loves playing with dough. Whenever i work with dough recipe, she would come and ask to join along. Usually I would give her a ball of dough to play with and she could play throughout my whole baking time. This gives me an idea to make her some homemade sensory playdough from edible ingredients.

After googling for a good half an hour, I decided to give this Martha Stewart playdough recipe a try. Because I am a baker myself, I know that a cooked dough is definitely a better choice from an uncooked dough. They are much more softer and pliable than the latter.

And true enough, this playdough is very smooth, soft and pliable. For smelling senses, I've added a few drops of different artificial flavours for each colors. My daughter loves them and she can named the smell for each colors without me telling her. Good job, baby!

After playing for 2 hours, the playdough still remained soft and pliable. To further test the suppleness of this playdough, I've left a ball of dough overnight on the counter without covering it. When I checked on it the next morning, there was a thin crust formed on the surface of the playdough. But once I knead it, the heat from my kneading seemed to have melt the crust into the soft dough. The end result is the playdough still remained soft and pliable as it was yesterday. I am very happy with this playdough recipe. Definitely the BEST playdough I've ever played!

HOMEMADE SENSORY PLAYDOUGH FOR TODDLERS
(Recipe Source from Martha Stewart)

Prep Time  : 12 mins
Cook Time : 3 mins
Total Time : 15 mins
Makes       : approx. 4 balls of 7cm diameter

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups cold water
Food coloring
Artificial flavoring (optional)

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, combine well the flour, salt, vegetable oil, cream of tartar, and water.

2. On medium heat, cook the mixture for about (no more than) 5 minutes. Stirring constantly until the dough is the consistency of mashed potatoes. (It took me about 3 mins to get to the consistency of mashed potatoes)

3. At this point, your dough maybe still a little bit sticky. Knead it a few times while the dough is still in the saucepan, away from stovetop. The heat from the saucepan will continue to cook the dough whilst you are kneading.

4. Divide the dough into four equal portions and add your coloring and flavour according to your liking. I've added approx. 1 tsp of food coloring and 1/4 tsp of artificial flavoring into each portion.

Notes:
● To store, wrap each color dough with a cling wrap before placing them in a ziplock bag or airtight container.

● According to Martha Stewart website, it says that "If you store the play dough in a plastic bag or airtight container, it will stay nice and soft and last for years."

● Do not worry about your kids mixing different colors together. You can try to separate the color dough later. And if you can't, just knead it together to create a new color. :)

#msyummyliciousrecipe
Make this recipe? Don't forget to snap a photo of it and tag #msyummyliciousrecipe on social media! I would love to see them! Enjoy my recipe!

MY OBSERVATION

After posting up this receipe, an experienced mommy (whom has made this playdough before) told me that her dough got moldy after 5 days in room temperature and only lasted for 2 weeks when kept in fridge. Upon hearing this, I decided to do my own observation and comparison.

Note: Both dough are wrapped in cling wrap and kept in airtight container after each play.

	Room Temp (Dough A)	Fridge (Dough B)
7 Days	Dough remained soft & clean (The colors were all mixed up hence the dull color) more details below...(+/-)	Dough remained soft & clean, and is slightly softer than 'Dough A' more details below...(+/-)
2 Wks	Dough has harden a bit but still soft to shape & free from mold. more details below...(+/-)	Dough is tougher than last week but it is still soft to shape & definitely softer than 'Dough A' more details below...(+/-)

Dough Untouched In Room Temperature
(Observation on the first 7 Days)
I've kept a small ball of dough untouched in room temperature (since the day i made them). It became very sticky. (See below photo.) I guessed we need to knead it once a while or perhaps maybe I did not knead it enough at the beginning. Hmmm...

Dough Untouched In Room Temperature
(Observation on the next 7 Days)
I was not happy that my daughter could not play with the 'sticky' dough. So I tried making them into a flat disc and leave it uncovered for the whole day under the fan. A thin crust has formed on the surface. I knead it to blend with the soft sticky of inside dough. After a few minutes, it became a smooth dough again. Yay! My daughter was able to play with it.

DOUGH B
(Observation on the first 7 Days)
Even tho' 'Dough B' is slightly softer than 'Dough A', but I found that it is very troublesome to have it thawed(*) first (for at least 4-5 hours).

In the first 1-2 hours of thawing, the dough began to sweat and become very sticky(**). Got to let it thaw further for approx. 4-5 hours to get a smooth dough (after kneading it again for few mins).

Ok. you may ask, what if I let my kid play right from the fridge? I've tried that and it doesn't work. When I let my daughter play right after taking it out from the fridge, the dough was nice to play with at first but in just few minutes, it became very sticky. (See photo below.)

The dough stick to the table and hands.
NOTES
(*) thawing condition: dough is unwrapped from cling wrap and left 'naked' on table.
(**) the dough may not sweat or may not sweat too much if the weather is cooler.

DOUGH B
(Observation on the next 7 Days)
My daughter was able to play with the dough right after taking from the fridge. Does not need thawing anymore and it doesn't feel sticky.

Conclusion of My Observation: The dough kept in room temperature (Dough A) was more lasting than the one kept in fridge (Dough B), in terms of pliable. It can last up to 3 months or more, provided that it is stored accordingly. I did not further test because the dough has become brownish color and my daughter wasn't interested in it anymore.

First Commenter...(+/-)