Playdough for Sensory Play

Playdough is one of my favorite and most basic sensory toys. It's cheap and easy to make and it can stimulate multiple senses at the same time. Depending on the recipe you use, a child can engage the sense of smell, taste, touch, and feel. They can work their fine motor skills by rolling, tearing, squashing or stretching the dough to creating objects.

Playdough is a wonderful resource that we make use of before and after handwriting lessons.

First of all, I use Handwriting Without Tears for Caibry's handwriting work (see my sidebar for the link. This is a great program that works well for us, but sometimes his hand needs to warm up before handling the pencil. A few squeezes now and then seem to be all it takes.

If he completes his work well then I reward him with a little more creative playdough time.

One of my favorite play dough resources is SparkleBox. They provide playdough mats that are free for you to download and laminate. The mats are hard to describe. Check it out though. I'm sure you'll find them great educational support that guide children to use playdough to add, subtract, form letters, support storytelling adventures and simply create.

Here are some basic recipes I've come across and tried with success:

Rubbery Playdough

2 c. baking soda

1 1/2 c. water

1 c. cornstarch

Mix with a fork until smooth. Boil over medium heat until thick. Spoon onto wax paper to cool.

Alum Playdough

2 c. flour

1 c. salt

2 tbs alum

1 c. water

2 tbs oil

liquid food coloring

Mix liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir. Squeeze and knead the dough. Add more flour if it seems sticky. Store in the fridge.

Just Like the Real Thing

1 c. flour

1 c. water

1 tbs oil

1 tbs powdered alum

1/2 c. salt

2 tbs vanilla

food coloring

Mix all dry ingredients. Add water and oil. Cover over medium heat, stirring constantly until reaching the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and food coloring. Divide into balls and work in color by kneading the dough.

My Favorite Scented Doughs:

Gingerbread Playdough

5 1/2 c. flour

2 c. salt

8 tsp cream of tartar

3/4 c. oil

4 c. water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

Mix together, cover over medium low heat and stir until lumps disappear. Knead dough on a floured surface until it reaches the desired consistency. Add a few drops of red and green food coloring to get a brown color.

Kool-Aid Playdough

2 1/2 -3c. flour

2 c. boiling water

1 pkg. any flavor Kool-aid

3 Tbsp alum

Mix ingredients. Knead on a floured surface. Add more flour if needed.

Jello Playdough

1 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

1c. water

1 Tbsp oil

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 (3-1/2 0z.) pkg. unsweetened jello

Mix ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mashed potato consistency. Let cool. Knead on floured surface. Do not store until completely cooled.

Peppermint Playdough

2 c. water

2 c. flour

1 c. salt

4 tsp cream of tartar

4 Tbsp oil

4 Tbsp peppermint extract

red food coloring

red glitter

Mix together. Cook over medium- low and stir until lumps disappear. Knead dough. Add the glitter while kneading.

Lemon Playdough

2 c. water

2 c. flour

1 c. salt

4 tsp cream of tartar

4 Tbsp oil

4 Tbsp lemon extract

yellow food coloring

gold glitter.

Mix together. Cook over medium-low heat. Stir until lumps disappear. Knead and add glitter while kneading.

Textured Playdough:

Oatmeal playdough

1 c. flour

2 c. oatmeal

1 c. water

Gradually add water to flour and oatmeal. Knead until mixed. The texture is what makes this dough unique. You could also add small amounts of cornmeal or coffee grounds to enhance the texture experience.

Edible Playdough:

Peanut Butter/ Graham Cracker Playdough

Equal parts Peanut Butter, Marshmallow cream and graham crackers

Crunch graham crackers into crumbs. Mix peanut butter and marshmallow cream. Roll in crumbs.

Peanut Butter Playdough

1 (18 oz.) jar creamy peanut butter

6 Tbsp honey

3/4 c. non-fat dry milk

Mix together. Add more dry milk until it's the right consistency. Knead with fingers.

Girl Scout Peanut Butter Playdough

1 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. honey

2 c. powdered sugar

Mix using your hands. It should feel soft and pliable.

Smooth Peanut Butter Playdough

2 c. smooth peanut butter

2 c. rolled oats

2 c. dried milk

2/3 c. honey

Combine and mix.

Cream Cheese Playdough

8 oz. pkg cream cheese

1/2 c. non-fat dry milk

1 Tbsp honey

crackers or bread slices (for eating dough)

Combine ingredients and mold on wax paper. Decorate with edible objects or place on crackers for a healthy and fun snack. I do not recommend storing this playdough.

Frosting Playdough

1 can frosting (any flavor)

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 c. creamy peanut butter

Mix ingredients to desired consistency. Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container.

Chocolate Playdough

8 oz. semisweet chocolate

1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp light corn syrup

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Stir chocolate until smooth, then add corn syrup. Stir until combined. Refrigerate until firm. Knead.

*Unless otherwise specified, store all playdough in an air tight container. I usually store my non-edible doughs in ziplock snackbags. I fill several of them. Each bag is the perfect amount for one child to use. I only give one bag/ child that way if the dough is too messy to save I still have more stored. I always place these ziplock bags inside of a medium sized air tight crafting box.

Many of kids that struggle with sensory issues have opted to avoid gluten. That makes playdough a little more challenging. This blogger explains ways to adapt playdough to make it gluten-free and provides her recipe for doing so. Another gluten-free option can be found here. She uses cream of tarter in place of the more expensive gluten free flour. Here is a link to a great post about scented playdoughs. I love the cute containers she uses to store her playdough.

I'm attaching a MckLinky to this post. If you have any great recipes for playdough or creative ideas for using playdough this is your opportunity to share them. Please blog about your recipe linking back to my blog. Then visit this post again and leave your direct link to the relevant playdough themed post. This is my first MckLinky so please be patient with me. Have fun!

Life Post-Therapy

We took Caibry to Therapy regularly until December 2008. His term was up and since we were planning a move that month, his OT released him. She said that she saw enough progress in Caibry that we didn't need to continue OT in our new town.
She was probably right.
Maybe it was the changes of moving away from friends, or the absence of family members that had lived with us briefly, or the lack of a regulating influence that his OT had become, but he began to struggle again. Around the time of our move we also suffered a failed adoption. We had been told by DHS that we would have an 8 month old boy in our care by Christmas. We had all bonded with him and Caibry couldn't wait to finally have a brother. Then they informed me that n unknown relative had found out about it and DHS had decided to place him there instead. Caibry was heartbroken.

It's now December 2009. We still see occasional scary behavior like attempting to run away when he can't cope with something. I've called the police twice to help me find him, only for neighbors to discover him laying down in their tall grass with his hands across his chest and his eyes shut. There is also still occasional violence toward his sister, but it's much less frequent. Today the self-talk is our biggest challenge. Caibry says that he hates himself almost daily. We have started him in counseling for his self-esteem issues.

He is in Kindergarten and showing himself to be very smart. He is doing first grade math, but still struggles a lot with writing. Handwriting without tears has been a God send. I also do a lot of copy work where he traces my writing on the HWT paper. He's not the easiest student, but I am thankful that I have the ability to teach him at home.

I am the person who best controls his temper and guides him toward more regulated behavior. He has really taught me patience. We've developed our own methods for reaching him and he usually responds well to my attempts to help him regulate.

Caibry is still a work in progress, but aren't we all? He can be exhausting and emotional and sometimes more than I think I can handle. I wouldn't trade him for anything though. I needed him in my life and God has him in it for a reason. If you have an SPD kid then you understand. We see the promise and potential. We see what could be and we hug, spin and blow the silly stuff away.

Therepy Diary Entry 25

April 15th, 2008

We are still on the Mozart CD. Caibry is winy a lot. He has seemed very lazy this week. All he wants to do it watch TV and I have to make him play. When he's outside he's aimless and looks for excuses to come back inside.
His self care is improving. He has gotten himself dressed and wiped himself after the potty.
He has also begun to use his special knew fork and spoon to feed himself.
I can spot a bad day when he starts making trains.
Sunday he was very crabby and I tried to give him chewy candy (advised in The Out of Sync Child). It didn't really have any effect. His mood was still bad.
I could tell that he was getting frustrated with himself and feeling like he couldn't do things he felt he should be able to do. He just needed a success.
I gave him paint and a plain wood picture frame and gave him the job of painting it black. He was so proud.
Art, paint, messy gooey stuff like moon sand and foam clay are great for him.
This week he asked to ride a swing and smiled pleasantly once on it. This a a major accomplishment that no one seems to understand. I, however, am glowing with pride.

Therapy Diary Entry 23

Okay . . .I'm bad at the whole keeping track of this in writing. It's been almost a month since I wrote anything. One reason is the business of life. The second reason is that there was so much improvement that I didn't really know what to write.
We loved what we saw while he was using CD 2. It sounded like really bad elevator music to me, but it was like life came back to him.
He has been doing a lot of breathing exercises using straws, also twirling robots and heavy carrying. The OT recommended that we work on tug of war activities that require pulling and grasping. We are seeing some motor skills issues now as well as behavioral issues since he began CD 3 (Mozart).
He is not doing well tolerating this CD and is very anxious for the end of listening times.

Therapy Diary Entry 22

March 25th, 2008

12:30- OT appointment. Finally a new CD! We were told to go back to 30 min. sessions twice daily.

Whenever we switch the time limits for listening or adjust the Cd's I see changes. sometimes they are positive and sometimes not.

I've seen Cd's that make him more tired, some that make him emotional, some that make him cuddly and sweet, and some that just ware us both out to get him to listen to.

All in all, I think the Cd's eased him through the physical adjustments he encountered through therapy and allowed him to mentally prepare for the tasks he was asked to do.

Therapy Diary Entry 21

March 24th, 2008

Sadie is sick, Nevie has an ear infection, and Chloe is just plain crabby. Caibry is so loud today! It took all day to get him to get dressed. He barely ate anything. He skipped breakfast so we saved it for lunch. He barely took a bite and said he was done. He did have 3 glasses of milk though.
At dinner he ate french fries and a hamburger, but it took a lot of patience to watch him achieve this.
Today he has driven me crazy by fighting with Nevie. She's not much better with her constant tattling. It gets on my nerves.

12:45- first listening
No problems.

He was very messy today and has left trails of mess everywhere he goes.
He bit Nevie's toe until it bled and she kicked hi in the nose to get away. The result was a bloody nose. That caused total panic in him. Blood completely freaks him out and he kicked into his "I'm dying" mode. His screams were so loud I was sure the neighbors must have thought I was killing him.
I was so tired. I was desperate a bubble bath and some "me" time.
Caibry went to bed at 8:30. Hallelujah!

Therapy Diary Entry 20

March 23, 2008

We had to get up early today. There was an Easter breakfast at church. I had to get Caibry out of bed twice. He was not happy!
I got him dressed twice too. Once I left the room he took off his clothes and started getting back in pajamas. It was irritating, but I hate morning too and for 2 cents I would have gone back to bed with him.
He was crabby, but we did eventually make it to breakfast. We were only 15 minutes late.
He didn't like anything they served except strawberries. He said the muffins were "too crumbly", the eggs were "too wet" and the juice was "too sour". I gave up!
Caibry ran off twice at church and was very emotional.
Chloe was sick and I had to take her to the Emergency Room. Caibry kept running outside to play on his scooter even though I said no. He got very mad when I brought him in. He screamed "I hate you!" Today has just been too much for me. I'm tired. I went to my room to cry. Such a happy Easter.