Sensory Play: Make Your Own Fluffy Sensory Dough
Looking for a simple activity to keep little hands busy? This super-soft fluffy sensory dough is wonderfully squishy, mouldable and so much fun to explore and you only need two ingredients to make it!
Made with cornflour and shaving foam, it takes just minutes to put together. Once it was ready, we added pebbles, shapes and toy diggers and let the little rascals take over.
They scooped, squished, rolled, built and made patterns turning a really simple sensory activity into their own little world of imaginative play.
What you'll need
- Cornflour
- Shaving foam
- A large bowl for mixing
- A spoon
- A large tray or sensory play tub
- Pebbles for making shapes and patterns (optional)
- Toy diggers, trucks or other favourite small toys (optional)
- Cookie cutters or shapes (optional)
- Food colouring (optional if you want a different colour)
How to make your fluffy sensory dough
Start by adding your cornflour to a large mixing bowl or sensory tray.
Next, add roughly the same amount of shaving foam and get mixing!
You can start with a spoon, but getting little hands involved is much more fun. Squish, squeeze and knead everything together until the mixture becomes soft, fluffy and mouldable.
You’re looking for a texture that can be pressed together and hold its shape, but will easily crumble apart again.
If your sensory dough feels too sticky, add a little more cornflour. If it feels too dry, add another squirt of shaving foam.
Don’t worry too much about getting the quantities perfect. Mixing, experimenting and discovering what happens when you add more of each ingredient is all part of the fun.
If you'd like to add a splash of colour, you can also mix in a tiny amount of food colouring.
Bring on the diggers!
Once our fluffy sensory dough was ready, we added some pebbles and brought out the diggers. Then we let their imaginations take over!
The kids scooped up the dough, filled their trucks, transported it from one side of the tray to the other, made tracks with the wheels and created little mounds for the diggers to climb.
We also added smooth pebbles, which were brilliant for burying and discovering, stacking and pressing into the dough to make different shapes and patterns.
You could add cookie cutters, scoops, little pots, toy animals or whatever else you already have at home. There doesn't need to be an end goal, give them the materials and see where their imaginations take them.
A little note for grown-ups
This activity can get a little messy but that’s part of the fun!
A large tray or sensory tub helps to contain most of the mixture, and an apron is always a good idea.
Rascals should be supervised at all times during this activity. Shaving foam is not intended for eating, so make sure the mixture stays away from little mouths and eyes and that hands are washed thoroughly after play.
If your child has sensitive skin or allergies, check the ingredients in your chosen shaving foam before starting. Small items such as pebbles can also be a choking hazard, so they should only be included when age-appropriate and with close adult supervision.
Simple ingredients, BIG imaginations
One of our favourite things about sensory play is seeing what children create when they're given a few simple materials and the freedom to explore.
A couple of everyday ingredients, a handful of pebbles and some much-loved toy diggers turned into an afternoon of squishing, building, experimenting and imaginative play.
So grab a tray, roll up those little sleeves and prepare for some wonderfully messy fun!