When my kiddos were old enough to play with Moon Sand, I bought a few bulk packs of Moon Sand. My husband thinks the stuff smells like cat litter so he wasn’t a fan. I didn’t mind the smell. It was easy to clean up. The kids loved it and would play with it a few hours a week. The only drawback was that it got quite expensive to replace after awhile, especially when you compare it to the price of normal sand.

I looked online for a DIY alternative of Moon Sand and came across Flights of Whimsy’s Cloud Dough. I thought the Cloud Dough would be a good DIY version of Moon Sand, so gave it a go.

Ingrdients
8 cups plain flour
1 cup baby oil (or any oil if you’re concerned with using baby oil)

How We Played

We scooped it into small takeaway containers.

We made little cakes, complete with candles.

We brought our favourite toys to the table and created an engaging story of bravery and camaraderie.

We played. We created. We were together.

Some Notes From The Trenches

Like Moon Sand, this DIY version holds its shape very well when you mould it (using your hands or a cup, etc), but crumbles very easily once pressure is applied. Unlike Moon Sand, this DIY version is oily. When you play with it, the oiliness is not noticeable. It’s when you tidy up the play area that you notice traces of oil wherever the Cloud Dough has been. I thought I contained the mess to one area of the house, but because the kids had it on their feet, the oiliness spread throughout the house. I had to give the floors a good mop after we played. This is messy play, but very engaging messy play. Well worth the clean up.

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The post D.I.Y. Moon Sand (or Cloud Dough) by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

I hit our local dollar shops in search of new sand table play bling. With Spring in the air, a gardening theme was my inspiration as I walked through the narrow aisles.

Artificial flowers – check. Large plastic cups to use as pots – check. Kids gardening tools – oooo…. check! Bugs… bugs…. where are the bugs? I want worms for play. I want beetles. Unfortunately I could not find any. With Halloween just around the corner, I had to settle for a collection of ‘scary’ bugs: scorpions, centipedes, spiders and tiny bats. I thought it wise to leave out the spiders for play as I would like my sons to maintain a healthy fear of spiders.

I placed the sand table play bling in a DVD/CD storage box and left the unsuspecting targets to their own devices.

Ooo… there are bugs inside! We want to play!

Let’s put sand inside the box!Later, they realised it was more fun to take things out of the box and place them in the sand table for play.

N went inside to get his Superman cape. Perhaps he needed some extra play strength to conquer this desert turned garden.

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Our sand table play has been revived thanks to operation desert bloom!

Lesson learnt: accessories are key.

Love playing outdoors? Check out our outdoor play for some inspiration.

Look at these wonderful ideas for more sand table play:

Teach Preschool: Table Top Sandbox Play
Let the Children Play: New Directions for the Sand and Water Table
A Differentiated Kindergarten: What’s in Your Sand Table?

This post is part of the “It’s Playtime” link up.

The post Sand Table Play: Operation Desert Bloom by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.