Cloud Dough, oh cloud dough. How do I describe thee cloud dough? What is it about thee that makes me feel … inadequate?
I have to be honest, when I first saw a pin on Pinterest for cloud dough I repinned it right away. But, it was one of those pins that you repin just so you feel like you did without actually having to do it. You know what I’m talking about, right? I mean don’t all of us live vicariously through our Pinterest account a little bit?
So, when I saw that beautiful pin many months ago, I repinned it with every intention of making it right away and having my kiddos play with it. It was beautiful in my mind. Little Bear was sitting next to a kitchen chair and Smiley Man was standing next to it. On top of two chairs was a beautiful plastic bin like people use for sensory bins (something we don’t have by the way). My boys were happily playing and keeping every last bit of cloud dough in the bin, but they were still having a great time. The image was so beautiful, I didn’t want to ruin it with reality. So, deep, deep, deep in my mind, I knew I would never make the amazing cloud dough.
You see, I may have OCD just a teeny bit. It’s not bad, I promise. I have just enough that it helped me get good grades in school and be really good at practicing the piano. Also, I have mild heart attacks when I am late for something or when a brand new crisp dollar bill gets bent. Other than that though, I’m perfectly normal. For the most part, being slightly OCD just means that I don’t do messy play with my kids very often.
Well, a few days ago something came over me. Probably mom guilt. You know how strong that is. Powerful enough to combat my OCD and soon enough there I was making cloud dough for my kiddos. What, me making cloud dough? Was it a dream? No. I knew that because when I tried to put food coloring in the oil, it didn’t work. Duh, water doesn’t mix with oil. I didn’t think about that beforehand. Still, if it had been a dream, the food coloring would have worked.
Cloud Dough Recipe
- 4 cups Flour
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
Mix it all together! It doesn’t get easier than that!
So, what is my assessment of cloud dough. It was way fun! I know, I made a mess and I just said it was fun! The food coloring didn’t work, but it wasn’t necessary at all. It was fun just plain white, too. I halved the recipe because honestly 8 cups of cloud dough just seemed like way too much for me to handle. I also used vegetable oil rather than the typical baby oil mostly because we don’t have any baby oil. More on that later, but it worked out beautifully.
I combined the 4 cups of flour and ½ cup of vegetable oil, then put it in our turtle sandbox that doesn’t currently have sand in it. I put both boys in swimming suits and put the turtle in the middle of the kitchen floor. I put them in the turtle with the cloud dough and added some cups and other Tupperware. Smiley Man loved rubbing his tummy with the cloud dough. He really enjoyed the texture of it. He also loved it when I squeezed the cloud dough in my hand and it hardened. He kept grabbing the hardened piece and then got all confused when it broke in his hands. Little Bear loved making towers with the cups by packing the cloud dough in tight and then dumping it out. I asked Little Bear about the cloud dough and this is what he said, “I loveded it. Smiley was in it and we were sharing the cloud dough.” It was so great, I might even do it again.
(Side note from Cassidy: Note the increase of happiness on her face as the cloud dough becomes less and less contained; this was not staged. I tried to keep it contained in this small container originally, however, we were both much happier when I decided to just let her have at it and not worry about making a mess. This is something I would definitely recommend doing as a messy activity and try not to worry about keeping it clean, just like Kirstylee told me in the first place!)
One more thing, I ended up being very glad that I used vegetable oil rather than baby oil. Smiley Man decided about halfway through that it would be great to put some of the cloud dough in his mouth. Here is what would have happened if I made it with baby oil:
Me: Scream No, Smiley, don’t put that in your mouth. Ah, get it out. Yucky. (Now I would be pulling his hand out of his mouth and picking him up to wash his hands and mouth out in the sink.)
Smiley: ah meah ahhhe
Me (in my head): This stuff if so dangerous. Why did I even make this? As soon as Smiley is cleaned up I am throwing this stuff straight into the trash can. I am NEVER making this again.
Poison Control Center: Yes, this is Poison Control Center, how may I help you?
Me: Um, my son just put some baby oil in his mouth and I just want to make sure he’s okay. No, he didn’t swallow it or anything, but I’m just freaking out because I’m a mom and I’m slightly OCD and that’s just what I do…*
What actually happened because I used vegetable oil:
Me: chuckle Oh, yucky. Don’t eat it. It’s yucky.
Smiley: (making a hilarious face because he’s just discovered what yucky truly means.)
Me: (pulling Smiley Man’s hand out of his mouth and putting it back into the cloud dough.) Just play with it, don’t eat it.
Everybody: Happily enjoying cloud dough without any incident.
See how much better it was with vegetable oil? Yeah, you might want to use that instead of baby oil.
*Note: this may or may not have been a slight over exaggeration. ;)