Creating inside fun with Sand Play Dough

When I was a child, I loved playing outside with my brother in the dirt.

We would spend hours creating whole cityscapes with the help of our Tonka trucks. Each would have multiple jobs to do. One of us was a landscaper, a police officer, a heavy equipment operator or the baker. It was great fun.

In preparation for a play date with my granddaughter I gathered a few natural things to give her an exciting winters day playing in the dirt with grandma.

I made this sand dough recipe with simple kitchen ingredients.

• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of sand (I used boughten play sand from the sand box)
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 tbsp cream of tarter
• 3/4 cup boiling water

Combine all the dry ingredients together and whisk until well mixed. Place the oil in with the boiling water and whisk. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well. I added 2 tbsp of out dated nutmeg to mine to give it a nice smell. Once cool enough, knead well. If it seems too tacky sprinkle more flour on top and knead until it is the consistency you like. It is now ready to use. It will keep for a couple months in a ziplock bag.

This is a great play teaching tool while having fun with your youngster. Change up the items that are gathered to teach the topic of your choice.

Other ideas

• beach theme
• Dinosaur theme
• fossil making
• rain forrest
• cityscapes
• vegetable garden
• flower gardens
• birds

Add an outing to the zoo, nature park, or pet store to complement the hands on teaching. A trip to the library to look at nature books would help with the creativity. Make a day of it-and remember to have fun!