I’m all about sensory play. There are so many reasons to let your child explore the world through sensory experiences!
Sensory play is super beneficial, promoting the development of your child’s language ability, motor skills, cognitive growth, emotional wellness, social aptitude, and creative thinking.
This is why I spend so much time encouraging sensory play with my children. Of course, I also love the special moments and memories we get to share as a result!
Some of our all-time favorite sensory play opportunities are play doughs, sands, and slimes. Who doesn’t love these?
The textures, smells, sounds, sights, and sometimes flavor (with taste-safe varieties) combined with the open-ended play structure are the perfect way to have a beneficial sensory activity.
There are lots of store-bought sensory doughs, sands, and slimes, but when you make it yourself, you add a whole new layer of sensory opportunity and creativity—especially if you let your children help out!
So, today, I am sharing another sensory-friendly dough recipe. This one is for moon dough, also known as moon sand!
Your kids, no matter their age, will love the unique texture and playtime experience of moon dough!
Here’s how to make it:
HOW TO MAKE MOON DOUGH
Moon dough is extremely easy to make. Plus, there’s a good chance you have all the ingredients for this DIY in your kitchens or craft room already. In just a few minutes, you can have plenty of dough that will keep your children occupied for hours with independent play!
This super simple moon dough recipe will definitely become a favorite in your house, as it has in mine!
What Is Moon Dough?
Moon dough (or moon sand) is a grainy dough that has a crumbly texture but sticks together and can be molded into all sorts of shapes and creations.
Kids love it because it has all the sandcastle-making benefits of wet sand without the mess. When we make it at home, we love to use sand toys and molds to level up the sensory experience!
Like all the play doughs in Mothercould in Your Pocket, I recommend putting your moon sand into a sensory table to reduce mess and keep the play space accessible to your kids.
If you don’t have a sensory table, here’s a good one for your playroom. Or, you can make one yourself with these DIY sensory table instructions.
Easy Moon Dough Recipe
Moon Dough Ingredients
8 cups of flour
1 cup of baby oil or coconut oil (for a taste-safe alternative)
Food coloring or paprika (for natural color)
Optional: essential oils
Instructions
Pour all of your flour into a large bowl.
*If you’re using paprika for natural dye, mix it into your flour now. You’ll need between 7-8 TB for a good sandy color.
Make a sizable crater in the middle of your flour pile.
Carefully add your baby oil or coconut oil to the crater. (If you want the moon sand to be taste-safe, you’ll need to use coconut oil or another cooking oil.)
Then, add food coloring to the oil in the crater. It’ll be hard to predict the color, but this is the easiest way to get the food coloring distributed evenly through the dough. If you’re naturally dying your moon sand, skip this step.
*If you’re adding essential oils, also add a few drops of your favorite oil at this time. Remember, essential oils are not taste-safe.
Inside the mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients using a rubber spatula. Keep mixing until all the liquid is incorporated and the moon dough has a somewhat moist, but overall grainy texture. You may need to mix with your hands.
The dough should stick together and hold its shape when you mold it. If it does, you’re ready to play!
Other Play Doughs, Sands, and Slimes to Try:
Naturally Dyed Cloud Dough
Rainbow Play Dough
Homemade Play Dough
Tea Dyed Play Dough
Taste-Safe Play Dough
Edible Beach Sand
Kinetic Sand
Air Dry Clay
Cloud Slime
Clear Slime
Epic Slime
Edible Marshmallow Slime
Jelly Slime
Taste-Safe Chia Seed Slime
Mess Less Slime
Goop
Moon sand is a crumbly, but moldable dough that will keep your whole family entertained!
I hope you love this moon dough recipe as much as we do! It’ll probably become a regular visitor to your little one’s sensory table!
To spice up the play experience, visit the Mothercould blog and download Mothercould in Your Pocket. There, I have tons of games, learning activities, and more to make sensory play even more exciting and beneficial!
Of course, we also have plenty of other easy set-up sensory activities to keep playtime fresh every day.
Now, all that’s left to do is have fun and make memories!
ACTIVITIES
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