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Sensory bottles are some of our favorite DIY toys. Kids of any age engage with them (including the big kid parent) and they are perfect to introduce to babies and toddlers too! They are relatively inexpensive to make at home and last a long time.

What are the Benefits of Sensory Bottles?

Oftentimes, you can find sensory bottles at doctor's offices, classrooms, and libraries as they are quiet and engaging toys that provide an opportunity for mood regulation and conversation.

Sensory Bottles Can Be Calming

Learning to calm our bodies as adults can be hard sometimes, and it can be even more taxing on children who are still learning, growing, and developing. Incorporating sensory play is a way to aid our children's brain development as well as their nervous system as it learns to regulate on its own.

These bottles are a great tool for children (or adults!) who struggle with:

Sensory bottles tend to be slower moving and have different ingredients or items interacting with each other, which makes them visually engaging. This visual can give kids' brains an opportunity to pause and explore as they watch or feel the bottle in their hands while also fine-tuning those fine-motor skills. You can point at different objects inside the bottle, follow them with your finger, shake the bottle and work on language development as you spot new items inside the bottle.

Sensory Bottles Are Clean & Great On-The-Go

Sensory bottles are also portable and mess-free, making them something you can easily toss into the diaper bag to have on hand for babies and toddlers wherever you go!

They also make a great gift or a great do-it-together activity with your toddlers! You can make thematic sensory bottles too, some ideas include:

Fall-themed sensory bottles (leaves, orange, and yellow glitter)

Ocean sensory bottles (blue water, fish, & seaweed)

Flower-themed sensory bottles

Space-themed too (dark blue water, glitter, and planets)

The options are endless!

Building nerve connections in the brain, sensory play is a way for children to process emotions, concepts, or tasks by regulating their internal systems.

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Sensory Bottles DIY | Calming Toys for Kids | MOTHERCOULD

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These Sensory Bottle DIY toys are perfect for sensory play, for calming your fussy child, or for taking on the road to keep kids entertained in the car.

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Shout out to this sensory bag for getting Nicky interested in writing when she was 4. Seriously, one of my favorite sensory bags, I used it almost weekly. If you have not seen this before, it is a great sensory activity to get the little ones exposed to writing skills.

Here's the original caption of the first time I posted this at home writing activity, and it still brings me chills: "Last week we went on vacation and on the airplane Nicky (4) wrote her name for the first time by herself. I nearly cried. It was so significant because Nicky is not interest in letters or anything that has to do with them. So when she wrote her name it was like a validation that all these little activities we played at home are enough. Play is enough!"

And it is! Learning though play is amazing, our little ones learn without even noticing and while having fun! If you want to try this writing sensory bag at home, here's how.
MATERIALS: INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Fill the ziplock bag with hair gel. Any cheap hair gel works.

2. Add a couple drops of food coloring and glitter to the bag.

3. Seal the bag leaving no air inside and mix very well until the color is fully blended.

4. Using strong tape, tape the top of the bag closed. Then tape the bag to the surface you'll be using it on.

Tip: You can place the prompt card next to it like I show in the video or you can simply say, "can you write the letter A"?

If you are using this with a baby, supervise closely as the bag could tare and they will try to eat it. To make it baby nail proof, tape clear tape on top of the bag to make it stronger.

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Teach your toddlers the alphabet through play with this writing sensory bag

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One of my absolute favorite sensory items to make because it checks all the boxes! It is taste safe, inexpensive, versatile, bright and colorful, lasts forever and its easy to make! Well, I have to admit it does have one downside... it might get messy, but nothing a little vacuuming can't handle!
MATERIALS: INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Measure 1 cup of rice for every 1 tablespoon of vinegar.

2. Add rice and vinegar to a plastic bag.

3. Add few drops of food coloring (a little goes a long way) into a ziplock bag.

4. Shake very well until all the rice grains are colored.

5. Lay out to dry on a flat tray over parchment/wax paper. Spread out into a thin layer. It should be dry in 30 minutes.

Tip: The vinegar smell is very strong but if you leave it outside to dry, it helps!

Get creative with themed sensory bins or add some kitchen utensils for the little ones to practice motor skills!

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Learn how to make color dyed rice for a perfect dry sensory base.

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How Carol's Club Works

Carol's Club Members have 24/7 access to the ClubHouse where Social Stories and related articles, resources, and materials, called projects, are stored. My name is Carol Gray, and I am the sole author of Carol's Club, with occasional contributions from my colleague and friend in the United Kingdom, Dr. Sioban Timmins.

Carol's Club opened in October of 2017 with paid subscriptions. Members submitted requests for projects that were posted every other week. Carol's Club changed its format in February of 2020 with free membership and access to everything in the ClubHouse. Instead of accepting requests, I periodically add new articles and Social Stories to the ClubHouse.

Becoming a member of Carol's Club is easy! Complete and submit the registration form. You will receive a MailChimp email. Follow directions to join the mailing list that I use to notify members when I add something new to the ClubHouse. Your information and email address will remain confidential.

To thank you for becoming a member, the "Carol's Club Welcome Packet" awaits you in the ClubHouse (posted October 12, 12017, remember to log in first). It contains a bonus project: "Understanding the Tooth Fairy and Other Similar Traditions - Ideas for Parents and Professionals," 2. a tour of the Clubhouse (It's just for fun - to show you around), and 3. the first Clubhouse project, "Social Stories 10.2 Definition on PowerPoint®."
Welcome to Carol's Club!

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Welcome to Carol's Club - Carol Gray - Social Stories

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How Carol's Club Works Carol's Club Members have 24/7 access to the ClubHouse where Social Stories and related articles, resources, and materials, called projects, are stored. My name is Carol Gray, and I am the sole author of Carol's Club, with occasional contributions from my colleague and friend in the United Kingdom, Dr. Sioban Timmins.

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Sand Play Ideas and Phys/Cog Development

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Sand Play Ideas and Phys/Cog Development

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There is nothing quite like the magic of water. Swooshing, swirling and splashing, young children become completely absorbed in running their hands through the smooth ripples of this fabulous liquidy stuff which has all kinds of potential. It drips, sprinkles, splashes, pours and gushes, and makes all sorts of wonderful splishy sounds. (IPPA, 2007)
Why Playing with Water is Good for Children?

Water play, both indoors and outdoors, is a unique activity for children because it's always available, open-ended, and provides opportunities for extended learning. Water play fosters learning in all developmental areas. It provides opportunities for children to experiment with math and science concepts, strengthen their physical skills, advance their social and emotional skills, and enhance language development.

Water is one of the basic raw materials for purposeful play. Just like sand, clay, and blocks, children can use water without being constrained by the one, right way to use it. Unlike many of the commercially produced, flashy playthings available today, water is a plaything that fosters curiosity, imagination, and experimentation--and it is free. There are endless ways that you can set up water play both indoors and outdoors, in the sink or a plastic tub, in a water tray, in small individual containers or in a paddling pool indoors.

2. It Promotes Physical Development

Water play encourages the development of gross motor skills as children use their large muscles to lift buckets and wield big sponges during the play or while they fill, empty, and clean up the water area. Providing short-handled mops for children for cleaning up drips and splashes can also enhance large-muscle development.

Water play encourages the development of eye/hand coordination through pouring, squeezing, stirring, painting, scrubbing, and squirting. When you add different elements to water (sand, stones, mud), children can widen their sensory experiences as they put their hands in different textures (gritty, squishy, and slimy) and different temperatures (warm, cool, and cold).

3. It teaches Mathematical and Science Concepts

Similar to sand, water is an effective way to develop children's maths knowledge, skills and understanding. Playing with them involves investigating, experimenting, constructing and problem solving.

Children begin to understand and experiment with concepts such as more/less, same/different, many/few, empty/full, before/after, greater than/less than, and counting.

Children can learn about measurement by using measuring cups or discovering the best way to squirt long and short distances using squeeze bottles or plant misters filled with water.

Maths and Science experiences with water

Sorting, counting and comparing objects that float

counting how many pebbles were added to a small bucket of water before it spilt out

Netting slimy worms of cooked spaghetti and comparing their lengths

Using a hose to make water patterns on the ground

Squeezing plastic bottles to empty and fill them up

Deciding when a container is nearly half full

Pouring water into a funnel to fill various containers

Showing where to hold the hose to make rainbows in the sun

Sorting into two sets the objects that float and those that sink

Filling containers until the water overflows and discussing what that means

4. It Encourages Social Skills and Cooperation

Children practice their social interactions as they work closely with one another during water play. They solve problems about how to play cooperatively; negotiate; and share equipment, space, and materials.

Water play offers a great opportunity to help children play together. To encourage cooperative play at the water tray, provide materials that children can use together, such as water wheels and large buckets that take two to fill or carry. Also, because water play is such a simple and open-ended with no confusing rules, all of the children can have a turn if you have multiples of objects and toys in the water.

Water play can also work well when different age groups are playing together, as each child can play in their own way.

5. It Fosters Creativity

Water encourages children to use their imagination. As the children play, they may pretend that they work at a car wash or pretend the water tray is a bathing area for their dolls. Water also encourages children to try out new ideas and solutions to problems in a safe environment especially when the children are have a variety of materials and equipment available to them to use in their water play.

IPPA, the Early Childhood Organisation, 2007 "Inspiring Play in Early Childhood". IPPA, the Early Childhood Organisation

http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2005/making-the-most-of-water-play

http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=374

http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Fun-Activities/Water-Play-with-Preschoolers-The-Hanen-Way.aspx

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There is nothing quite like the magic of water. Swooshing, swirling and splashing, young children become completely absorbed in running their hands through the smooth ripples of this fabulous liquidy stuff which has all kinds of potential. It drips, sprinkles, splashes, pours and gushes, and makes all sorts of wonderful splishy sounds.

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In this blog we will be exploring the importance of role playing and how it is an effective way for children to make sense of the world around them. Role playing also supports children to:

Develop their communication and language skills

Act out and make sense of real-life situations

Explore, investigate and experiment

Develop their social skills, as they collaborate with others

Learn to empathise with others, as taking on the role of a character which help them to learn empathy and understanding of different perspectives

Learn about different cultures

Express their ideas and feelings in a relaxed environment

Develop awareness of themselves and others

Be creative and use their imagination!

Role playing is especially beneficially for developing language. This is for both children with English as an additional language and for native English speakers. As well as vocabulary and language, role play develops toddlers communication skills as they communicate with each other in a safe environment. Role play is the most effective way of acquiring language!

The good news is that you don't need lots of expensive toys and resources to encourage role playing activities. You'll find items that you already have in your nursery and at home (often everyday things!) can spark children's imaginations and prompt role playing activities.

Examples of role playing activities include:

Supermarket

you could use everyday food items, such as fruits and vegetables, cereal boxes and tins of food, and set them up around the room for children to add to their 'basket' or 'trolley' (small cardboard boxes work well). If you have a toy till, children might like to take 'payment' for the food, and you could even make some fake money to be used in their shop.

similar to the supermarket set up, you could set up other shop environments, such as a:

ask children to draw and/or cut-out images of flowers and arrange them in bouquets with ribbons.

ask children to measure their feet- colour photos of different shoes- pay for shoes with fake money.

ask children to act out different animals- print off items that different pets might need, e.g. a water bowl, food, collar, and get children to walk around the shop and collect and pay for the items they need.

encourage children to dress up and pretend to be a baker. They could choose what types of bread and other baked items they want to bake and serve to their customers. You could use food models, empty food packets (just be mindful of allergies) or items you've made from crafts (such as boxes, paper, containers).

Other shop environment could include: a post office, farm shop, toy shop and cafe.

Cooking

Household Activities

if you've got a home corner in your setting, then you could encourage children to do role play activities, such as sweeping, ironing, laundry and cleaning. You could use old equipment that's no longer in use (if appropriate), toys or improvise and create your own!

children will enjoy wearing stethoscopes, prescribing medicines and treating other children. They can take turns playing doctors, nurses and patients and think of what ailments they will cure.

you could use small chairs or cushions to recreate the passenger rows of an aeroplane. Children will enjoy taking it in turns to be the pilots and passengers, and recreating what they encounter on flights.

Construction Engineers

encourage children to build towers out of building blocks/Lego bricks and to use toy tools to fix broken items.

How to support children's learning:

Ask focused open ended questions, rather than closed questions.

Take on a role and join in with children's role playing and dressing up. This gives value to their play and reinforces the importance of role playing.

Early Start Nurseries

Here at Early Start Nurseries, we foster an environment that encourages children to enjoy a variety of role playing activities.
Want to know more? Head over to the Nurseries section to see our nurseries in East London (opens in new tab).

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Importance of Role Playing - Early Start Group

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The importance of role playing can be highlighted as an effective way for children to make sense of the world around them.

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Hopscotch image for physical and cognitive development

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Hopscotch image for physical and cognitive development

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I think that this messy play Jello / Jelly activity has been our favorite activity of the week. While this toddler activity does take a bit of planning ahead (I made the Jello/Jelly the night before), it's so worth it!

It's been a really long time since I made Jelly (I'm going to call it jelly because I'm in Australia, but it's exactly the same thing as Jello). It was actually much easier than I remembered - basically you pour it in, add some hot & cold water and let it set overnight.

I have memories of jelly being hard to set, but this one wasn't a problem. Jelly is great for messy and sensory play as the children can smell it, taste it (if you want them too - I recommend doing this before they play with it!), and touch it. It's starts off feeling smooth and then lumpy and then squishy. There are so many different textures to describe. I also love using it with babies and toddlers as it is taste safe (obviously) as it's hard to stop them putting things in their mouth.

If you haven't joined up for our messy play challenge you can still sign up HERE.

What you need for messy play with Jello / Jelly

Jello/Jelly crystals - 4 boxes.

container (or a few) that will fit in your fridge

spoons, scoops and toys to play with. We also used some playdough cutters - use whatever you already have. I love this set if you are looking for some.

Aor a tablecloth to put in the area you'll be using. This is optional but it helps to contain the mess! I really like

How to set up for messy play with Jello / Jelly
THE DAY BEFORE
Make your jelly according to the instructions on the packet. I made mine all one color but you could easily make them in different containers for a rainbow effect.
ON THE DAY
There are no rules about how to play with the jelly. I'll show you how I set it up, but you can really do whatever you like with it.

I always like to start by putting the jelly out on its own. This gives your child the chance to look at it, observe what it is or what they think it is. It's the perfect time to ask questions like:

What color is it?

What do you think it will feel like?

Can you smell it?

Is it smooth or rough on top?

Do you want to touch it?

Then let them put their hands in it and fell it, squish it, and have fun with it! I let them do this for a while and then I'll add in some other items.

We added some spoons and scoops and this was a great way to play. There was a lot of filling up the containers and making a mess of course!

I then added the muffin tins back in (the same as we did for the colored spaghetti yesterday) and there was a lot of baking going on for a while.

We experimented with playdough cutters and these were fun for a while too.

Add some toys - we decided to add some of our Safari Ltd Butterflies (I love these toys - you can get them HERE) and this encouraged some more pretend play. The jelly became flowers and the butterflies were landing on them and eating the nectar. Use whatever toys you have - dinosaurs will work well. If you made blue jello then these ocean toys would be perfect!

I hope you really enjoy this jelly messy play activity. I've noticed that many of you have been commenting and saying that your older children are loving this challenge too and that's great to hear. Often when children go to school they miss out on a lot of the fun, play based activities that they used to do and it's great to get them involved too.

Make sure you share your photos in our Facebook Group and over on . Use #MyBoredToddler and tag @myboredtoddler so we can all see!

If you're looking for some more activities for today you might enjoy:
Water Play Activities for Babies and Toddlers Painting Ideas for Toddlers

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Messy play with Jello / Jelly for toddlers

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Messy play with Jello / Jelly for toddlers: There are no rules about how to play with the jelly. I'll show you how I set it up, but you can really do whatever you like with it.

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Activities and games for socialization are a great way for your child to learn how to behave around their peers, no matter if he is a toddler, a preschooler, or just started kindergarten. Games can teach skills like taking turns, managing emotions, and reading body language.

Use these evidence-based social skills activities to help your child build positive social behaviors and learn how their actions affect others. With these games, they can become more independent and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives.

1. Staring Contest

Many children have trouble maintaining eye contact in conversation. A staring contest can help kids make and keep eye contact in a way that allows them to focus on that task, rather than trying to communicate simultaneously.

If your child still feels uncomfortable, you can start smaller. Place a sticker on your forehead for them to look at and then build toward having a conversation.

2. Roll the Ball

It's never too early to start building social skills, and a game of Roll the Ball suits children as young as toddlers. Kids take turns rolling a ball back and forth between them, laying the foundation for other social skills.

Kids learn to carry this skill into taking turns in conversation or joint activities. They also learn self-control by aiming the ball toward their friend and rolling it hard enough to reach them yet with limited force.

3. Virtual Playtime

Sometimes, your child can't have play dates in person, but they can still spend time together over video chat and other online spaces. Video chats help kids make eye contact by looking at their friends on the screen.

Learning to adapt to new situations becomes a valuable trait, whether with social distancing or in their future workplace. Coming up with new ways to spend time together increases problem-solving abilities, which adds to a set of vital social skills.

4. Emotion Charades

Emotion charades involve writing different emotions on strips of paper. Your child picks one out of a hat or bucket. Then, they must try to act out that emotion.

Emotion charades can help children learn to recognize emotions using facial and body cues. You can even adapt social skills activities like this to create a game similar to Pictionary, where children draw the emotions.

By depicting and acting out emotional expressions and reactions in social skills activities, children learn emotion management, which plays an important role in creating positive relationships and communicating feelings.

5. Expression Mimicking Games

When you play this game with your child, you're teaching social skills with expressions. Mimicking your expressions allows your child to understand what certain expressions mean and recognize them when others make them in real conversations.

When kids with social challenges learn to read facial expressions, they become more comfortable in situations involving them.

6. Topic Game

You can play several variations of the topic game, but the most common one involves choosing a topic and naming things that fit into that category using each letter of the alphabet. For example, if you choose animals as the topic, you might come up with:

The topic game teaches kids to stick to one subject and follow directions until they complete the activity. It also helps them make connections and get creative with letters that have fewer options.

7. Step Into Conversation

Step Into Conversation is a card game made for children with autism. The game presents structured social skills activities, like starting a conversation and talking about specific subjects based on cards.

The game helps kids learn how to talk to others appropriately and carry a conversation with perspective and empathy. It teaches good manners and self-control by showing them how to politely enter a conversation, when to talk, and when to listen.

By using socialization games like this one, you give structure to conversations to develop the social skills necessary to handle different situations in their daily life.

8. Improvisational Stories

Many children tell stories even outside of intentional social skills activities. With improvisational stories, you add another challenge that requires them to collaborate and create a narrative without thinking about it beforehand.

For this activity, place cards with pictures or words face down. The child picks three of these cards, and they must include these objects or topics in the story they tell. The game ends when all the cards are gone, or the kids reach the end of their story.

You can use this activity as a multiplayer game where children take turns adding to the story and building on each other's ideas, or one child can tell you their own story.

9. Name Game

With this simple game, kids roll or toss a ball to someone after they call out their name. Social skills activities like this one work well for helping even toddlers learn their peers' names. It shows that they are attentive to others, and it's a step toward getting to know other people.

10. Simon Says

Simon Says builds social skills for kids' self-control, listening, and impulse control as they copy their peers' movements and follow instructions. It also helps keep the attention on the game and rewards good behavior for those who follow the rules throughout the game.

11. Rhythm Games

You can incorporate rhythm games as a social skills activity both at home and in the classroom. These music-making games let your child be creative while following directions and recognizing patterns.

A 2010 study by Kirschner and Tomasello shows that joint music-making helps social behavior. In a game where children must "wake the frogs" with music, the researchers found that kids who followed the rules by making music were more likely to help others who tried waking the frogs with non-musical means.

12. Playing with Characters

These social skills activities involve tapping into your child's natural tendency to play. Using stuffed animals or dolls, you can interact with your child through the toys.

Having conversations through toys teaches kids to recognize behaviors and communicate their feelings. They practice their social skills through the toys in an imaginary, low-risk environment, without worrying about the toys' hurt feelings.

13. Play Pretend

Kids will typically create a scenario in which they pretend to be someone or something else. For example, they might play house and take on the roles of parents, become a doctor, veterinarian, teacher, or cashier. Each of these situations allows them to explore different social skills activities.

As they pretend to parent another child, for instance, they must learn to recognize and respond to emotions, de-escalate situations, and adapt to new situations.

14. Token Stack

You can adapt token stack from board games like checkers to create social skills activities that teach children how to have a considerate conversation. Every time the child speaks and responds appropriately, they add another token to their stack.

They face the challenge of trying to stack their tokens as high as possible while taking turns speaking. This activity makes them focus on having a calm conversation and giving thoughtful responses to questions and statements.

15. Decision-Making Games

Social skills activities like decision-making games come in many forms. By using strategy games or activities as simple as sorting and matching, your child learns persistence, thoughtfulness, and cooperation with others.

These games help kids with indecision, as they ask the child to make a choice, even if it's not right the first time. It demonstrates low-risk consequences and encourages them to try again if they make a mistake.

16. Building Game

When children work together to build something, like a tower using blocks, they must communicate, take turns, and understand each other to bring their creations to life.

Kids will work together to come up with a method to build their items. When they apply it, they learn to try again if the creation falls and celebrate each other's unique abilities when they finish the project successfully.

17. Community Gardening

Community gardening works differently than other social skills activities in that it teaches children to nurture a living thing.

Gardening with others increases social competence by having your child take care of something and learn responsibility, as they cannot neglect their plants. This activity also gets kids outdoors and can help calm them.

18. Team Sports

Children can participate in team sports through their school, on a recreational team, or even play with friends in their backyard. Team sports show kids how to work together toward a common goal and keep their focus on the game.

They also learn to recognize emotions, like when someone gets hurt or scores a goal, and react appropriately when they win or lose.

19. Productive Debate

A productive debate works well for older kids to learn how to manage emotions and work on positive expression, even in challenging situations. They learn how to have difficult conversations calmly, without turning them into an argument or trying to insult the other person.

People who can debate and listen to their opponents develop more of the skills needed to become leaders in the classroom and workplace.

20. Scavenger Hunts

During scavenger hunts, children work together to find objects or get a prize at the end of the activity. By working toward their goal, they learn teamwork, organization, and positive decision-making. They can split up, move as a group, and collaborate to reach the end of the game.

They also get rewarded for cooperating. These activities help them with creative problem-solving abilities by making up clues for other players to solve.

What's Next?

Using evidence-based social skills activities and games helps your child build social skills while doing something they enjoy. You can adapt any of these activities to something that engages your child and allows them to get creative with their socialization.

However, activities and games can only go so far. The Positive Action social skills curriculum is designed to work in tandem with activities like these and more to help your child identify their self-concept and shift this introspection to their social interactions. We feel social skills start within.

Explore our sample lessons for even more ways to encourage your child's social-emotional learning, or contact us to find out how our program can improve your child's social skills and have fun doing it today!

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20 Evidence-Based Social Skills Activities and Games for Kids

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Find out how children can develop healthy social skills such as empathy, emotion management, communication using these 20 evidence-based activities.

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How To Draw A Face | Fun Activity For Kids

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Introducing fun and surprising science experiments. Everyone can try them using things that you already have at home.

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How can I use this Maths activity in my class?

One day, your students may be expert mathematicians. They may be solving questions that have puzzled people in the field for years. However, it's important to ensure they're correctly taught the basics and foundations of Maths today. That their earliest understanding of Maths sets them up for greatness.

That's where we come in. Twinkl has collaborated with Play-Doh to bring you this wonderful Play-Doh Maths Number Mats Activity. This activity tasks your students with creating numbers out of Play-Doh to help them memorise number forms from 0-10. These number mats are a brilliant way to combine the challenge of learning number forms with the fun that comes with using Play-Doh.

By incorporating this Play-Doh Maths Number Mats Activity into your lessons, you can allow your students to engage in a more hands-on approach to learning. In doing so, they'll be able to enjoy the process of learning number forms and work independently. This will help them master the basics of Maths today and set them up for greatness tomorrow!

Simply click "Download Now" for access to our Play-Doh Maths Number Mats Activity.

What other resources can I use alongside this activity?

At Twinkl, we understand that when teaching your students the basics, it's important that you use quality resources. Otherwise, the very foundation of their learning may be compromised. That's why we make sure that all our resources are created by our in-house team of expert teachers with classroom experience.

To use alongside our Play-Doh Maths Number Mats Activity, be sure to check out some of the following resources:

What are number mats?

Number mats are a learning exercise that tasks students with forming a given number. These numbers can be made with a variety of mediums, from drawing them with a pen or pencil to forming the shape with materials such as string or stickers. Using number mats, you can help your students refine their understanding of number forms and memorise how to form them and their values. In doing so, you can use number mats to help develop a student's concept of numbers through visual representation.

The above video may be from a third-party source. We accept no responsibility for any videos from third-party sources. Please let us know if the video is no longer working.

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One day, your students may be expert mathematicians. They may be solving questions that have puzzled people in the field for years. However, it's important to ensure they're correctly taught the basics and foundations of Maths today. That their earliest understanding of Maths sets them up for greatness.

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Balloon Themed 1 to 10 Number, Color and Quantity Matching Cards

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Learning numbers with Early Years children has never been more fun. This simple and engaging balloon match game will have them mastering counting from one to ten in no time. Learning your first numbers can be tricky. They’re one of the first things babies begin to learn, along with early vocabulary…

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Looking for an easy play dough alternative that won't dry out your child's skin? This 2-ingredient cloud dough requires nothing but cornstarch and baby lotion, and it is the softest 2-ingredient play dough you'll ever make. It's no-cook, gluten-free and super soft-and best of all, it only requires only a couple minutes to make!
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Before I started making my own play dough, I had never realized just how many ways you could make it.

Some recipes say to cook it in a saucepan. Others call for a microwave or a slow-cooker. Others still say to boil the water so you don't have to cook the play dough at all.

Not to mention all the various add-ins you can use to make the play dough fun and unique...

These include colours, spices, extracts, Jell-O, Kool-Aid powder, cocoa powder (to make chocolate play dough), coffee grounds, baking soda (to make erupting play dough), glitter, sand and even thermochromic pigment to make play dough that changes colours while you play!

If your children are little and have a habit of putting things in their mouths, you can also try making some edible play dough using a base of frosting, peanut butter, or even marshmallows. The possibilities are truly endless!

I usually make a new batch of regular coloured play dough every few months so that we always have some on hand. But it's also nice to have an easy recipe ready to go for the times when I just don't have the time or energy to make an entirely new batch.

That's where this cloud dough recipe comes in.

It's no-cook, gluten-free, super soft and great for kids who have sensitive skin. And the best part is that it only takes a couple minutes and two ingredients to make!

This play dough is so soft that it almost feels like playing with clouds... which is why it's often called "cloud dough". So even if you do have the time and energy to make a batch of regular play dough, this homemade play dough offers a unique sensory experience that makes it worth trying at least once!

I've shared my best cloud dough recipe below as well as some tips to help you make the perfect cloud dough. I hope your child loves this super soft play dough as much as ours did!

Related: 2-Ingredient Foam Dough

How to Make 2-Ingredient Cloud Dough

Required Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make a batch of super soft homemade play dough using only two ingredients (three if you want to add colours):

⅓ cup baby lotion (you can also use conditioner, but baby lotion is great if your child has sensitive skin and will give the cloud dough a more pleasant texture)

⅔ cup cornstarch (you may know it as "corn flour" if you live in the U.K.)

Food colouring or liquid watercolours (optional)

Note: While you can use conditioner to make this cloud dough recipe, I recommend that you make it without conditioner and use baby lotion instead. This will give your DIY cloud dough a much softer, lighter texture. I have found that conditioner can make cloud dough feel a bit sticky or oily.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Place Baby Lotion in Bowl

Start by placing some baby lotion in a medium bowl. I used Johnson's face and body lotion.

When in doubt, use a larger bowl than you think you'll need-this will make things easier once you get to step 3.

You'll need to follow a 1 : 2 ratio of baby lotion to cornstarch, meaning you'll need twice as much cornstarch as you will baby lotion.

When making it for this tutorial, I used ⅓ cup of baby lotion and ⅔ cup of cornstarch for each colour. But depending on how much you want to make, you can use ¼ cup and ½ cup, or ½ and 1 cup, or any other quantity you prefer-as long as you follow the 1 : 2 ratio.

Note: If you're using conditioner instead of baby lotion, you can just follow this tutorial to the letter as the proportions remain the same.

2. Add Colouring (Optional)

Once you've measured out your baby lotion and placed it in a bowl, you can add a bit of liquid watercolour paint or food colouring to make it more colourful.

This step is optional and the play dough will turn out just fine if you leave it white, but my kids love choosing different colours for their play dough, so I thought yours might too!

I like to use liquid watercolour paint because it's washable and costs less per millilitre than food colouring.

3. Mix in Cornstarch

Add the cornstarch to the bowl, making sure to use double the quantity of cornstarch than you used of baby lotion, and mix it in with a spoon.

You'll have to mix it gently initially to prevent the cornstarch from flying out of the bowl. (Using a larger bowl helps with this.)

But once the cornstarch is humid with baby lotion, it should become a little easier.

4. Knead Dough

When you've gotten as far as you can with the spoon, continue kneading the play dough with your hands until it's even and smooth.

Once you have a smooth ball of play dough in your hands, feel free to adjust the quantities if needed by adding a bit of cornstarch if it's too sticky, or a bit of baby lotion if it's too crumbly.

If the texture doesn't need adjusting, then your cloud dough is ready to play with! Wasn't that so easy?!

We can't get enough of this easy cloud dough recipe. Who knew you could make play dough using nothing but cornstarch and baby lotion?

And unlike salt- and flour-based play dough, this simple cloud dough won't dry out your child's hands. Our two-year-old has very dry skin, so this is perfect for her.

Also, while none of our kids have a gluten intolerance/sensitivity or coeliac disease, I can see this play dough being a great option for kids who do! ( Note: If you're looking for an edible play dough recipe that is gluten-free, check out this recipe for Baby Rice Cereal & Applesauce Play Dough.)

I do recommend keeping it in a bin while you play with it though, as it gets pretty crumbly during play and it can be a bit of a pain to tidy up. But if ever it does get on your floors (like it often does for us), a vacuum cleaner will clean it right up!

How to Store Homemade Cloud Dough

Unlike salt- and flour-based play dough (and like most types of cornstarch play dough), this particularly recipe doesn't keep very well. Because it doesn't contain any oil, it dries out pretty fast and starts to become crumbly very soon after it's made.

For this reason, this recipe cannot be made in advance and you'll want your child to start playing with it right away after you've made it.

If you really want to save it for later, I recommend placing it in a Ziploc bag or airtight container until you're ready to take it out again. (Ziploc bags tend to preserve humidity a little better.)

But even if you do this, keep in mind that it will dry out, so you'll likely have to massage some more baby lotion into the cloud dough before it's ready to play with.

You can also do this in cases where it dries out too much before your child is done playing with it. If that happens, simply squirt a bit of baby lotion onto the ball of play dough and massage it in to make it soft and malleable again!

2-Ingredient Cloud Dough

The Craft-at-Home Family

Related Play Dough Recipes

Looking for more fun DIY play dough recipes? Check out these articles:

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2-Ingredient Cloud Dough (No-Cook + Gluten-Free)

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This super soft play dough is no-cook, gluten-free and great for sensitive skin-and all you'll need to make it is cornstarch and baby lotion!