Easy DIY Lemon Cloud Dough Recipe

Learning Through Sensory Activities For Preschoolers

homemade cloud dough

SENSORY PLAY IS IMPORTANT FOR ALL CHILDREN TO ENGAGE THEIR SENSES AND LEARN FROM THEIR SURROUNDINGS

Preschool sensory bin ideas can be never ending. Making gluten free cloud dough with cornstarch and hair conditioner produces an absolutely silky texture that kids (and adults) will be drawn to.

Essentially, this is a 2 ingredient cloud dough recipe, with the lemon oil being optional. However, I highly recommend adding the oil to activate a whole other set of senses. Other ingredients can be altered as well, for example, try corn flour instead of corn starch.

You can make the easy cloud dough recipe with your child as a science/cooking experiment, and then they can explore for as long as they are interested in this lemon activity for preschool.

• What are the lemon cloud dough ingredients?
• What happens when you knead the dough?
• Why do the lemons make a print on the cloud dough?
• What other mixtures have you made before?

What Can Preschoolers Learn While Playing With A Homemade Play Dough Recipe?

cloud dough with only two ingredients

MIXING SIMPLE INGREDIENTS IS A GREAT TIME TO INTRODUCE SCIENTIFIC VOCABULARY THAT SOMETIMES TRANSFERS TO OTHER TOPICS.

You can use vocabulary and the DIY cloud dough activity to learn about mixtures or solutions:

• Mixture
• Ingredients
• Change
• Texture

Why Is It Important For Kids To Learn Through Sensory Play?

Children are naturally curious about everything around them. Exploring with cloud dough is just another way to activate the senses while exploring any way they would like. Whether you buy store cloud dough or make your own, the sensory play is beneficial.

Exploring the Five Senses

Sensory play is a great way to help children learn to use their senses and develop new ideas. What does the dough feel like? Can you tell me something else that might feel like cloud dough?

Understand Mixtures aka Chemical Reactions

Learning how to make cloud dough with conditioner and corn starch is a basic example of a mixture, where ingredients come together to form something else.

Connect with Summer

A lemon theme is just a fun way to celebrate and connect with summer. What other food and drinks are associated with summer? Get kids thinking about summer classics, like ice cream, picnics, and beach days.

Building Friendships

Let’s play in the lemon cloud dough together! Social play is so important for early learning. Children will learn how to take turns, social communication skills, and basic friendship norms.

How To Make The Lemon Cloud Dough Recipe For Preschool

Step One:

Measure 1 cup conditioner into a bowl. Add in 2 cups of corn starch and mix/knead well.

Step Two:

Add a few drops of yellow food coloring and continue to mix/knead. If desired, add a few drops of lemon scented oil. If the dough is too sticky, add another tablespoon of corn starch until desired consistency is reached.

Step Three:

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on the plastic mat. Add in small plastic lemons. Children can hide the lemons, find them, press them, and arrange them any way they would like to.

Step Four:

Let your children explore. While they are playing, talk about summer activities they would like to do, or other summer food and drink they like, or anywhere the conversation takes you!

Extend the Activity

Alter Ingredients

If you want to get more into the scientific side of the mixture, make a second batch of cloud dough with different ingredients. Use baby oil or vegetable oil instead of conditioner to compare/contrast.

Make Lemonade

A perfect extension activity after your child is done playing with the dough is to make homemade lemonade to sip! This is a tasty example of a mixture you can all enjoy.

Count the Lemons

Easily convert this to a math activity by counting the lemons as they are placed in the dough, or place them first and then fish them out and place them onto a ten frame mat to see how many are there.

Even More Dough Fun!

What Else Can I Use My Play Dough For?

• Food Themed Alphabet Play Dough Mats
• School Supply Play Dough Mats
• Number Ten Frame Play Dough Mats
• Pumpkin Pie Play Dough
• Panda Bear Play Dough Activity