eLeMeNO-P Kids

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Pumpkin Cloud Dough

September 16, 2014 By Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed. 24 Comments

Since we LOVE sensory play activities at our house and since the weather is getting cooler, we decided to start celebrating Fall a little early and make some pumpkin scented cloud dough.

If you’ve never heard of cloud dough, let me let you in on a little secret: It’s amazing!

It’s soft and powdery, but also squishy and moldable. And since it’s so versatile, you can scoop it, pour it, sift it, shape it, mold it, and even use cookie cutters with it!

It’s seriously so much fun that even I can’t keep my hands out of it! Hey, moms need sensory play in their life, too!

Because sensory play is all about engaging the senses, what better way than to make something smell good? That’s why we chose to scent our cloud dough with pumpkin! It smelled so good that we couldn’t keep our noses out of it!

Sensory Play Activities

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy. 

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of flour
  • 1/2 cup of canola or vegetable oil
  • 3 pieces of orange sidewalk chalk
  • Pumpkin Pie spice {found in the spice aisle at any local grocery store}

Crush your 3 pieces of orange sidewalk chalk by placing them in a baggie and just using a hammer to smash them. You want your chalk in powder form. If you don’t have orange chalk, you can also use orange tempera power paint.

In your designated sensory bin, pour the flour in and then add the oil. I find that the best ratio for the best cloud dough is 1/2 cup oil to every 4 cups of flour. Knead the flour and oil together.

After mixing the flour and oil, pour in your crushed sidewalk chalk to make your cloud dough orange.

Once everything is mixed, add in the pumpkin pie spice until the flour is scented like pumpkin pie! There’s no exact measurement, so just keep adding until the scent is just right for your kids.

Then it’s time to PLAY! You can add whatever you’d like to your cloud dough. I like to give tools to scoop with such as an ice cream scoop or spoon, as well as cups, bowls, and shovels.

Sensory Play Activities

I added some small pumpkins and acorns to ours to keep with the fall theme. These were found at Hobby Lobby for 40% off!

Sensory Play Activities

I also included a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter. I found this cookie cutter at Walmart for .97, and I love it because it’s plastic, which is safer for your preschooler to play with than the metal ones.

Sensory Play Activities

Mason loved making sandcastles with his cloud dough. Since it’s moldable it’s easy to mold into the shape of a cup…
Sensory Play Activities
He rolled the dough into balls and made pumpkin muffins. I added in some paper muffin cups.

Sensory Play Activities

The ice cream scoop was fun for him to use and he scooped out lots of pumpkin ice cream! Seriously, who doesn’t love pumpkin ice cream?!

Sensory Play Activities

One reason I love sensory play activities is because of the language you can hear blossoming and mostly because I love watching little hands play!

Sensory Play Activities

Mason really enjoyed his pumpkin scented cloud dough and played for almost 2 hours!

Sensory Play Activities

To enhance your pumpkin cloud dough experience even more, you could:

  • add real pumpkin seeds to your play
  • add real acorns to the bucket
  • add some nutmeg or cinnamon for extra scent

I hope your little one loves playing with their pumpkin cloud dough!

What are some items you like to include in your sensory bins?

Some other sensory play activities you may like:

  • Ice Cream Dough
  • Winter-Themed Sensory Bin
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Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.

Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.

Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed. has been working and teaching in the field of early childhood education for over 7 years. Erica is currently the director and teacher at a Preschool Enrichment Program in her area. Erica believes that young children learn best through play and exploration, and she is constantly looking for new and creative ways to incorporate learning through play. She embraces this belief in all of the activities she creates in her preschool classroom, and loves sharing them here on her blog. Erica has also co-authored the book, "Learn With Play" with other kid bloggers in the preschool field.
Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.

@@elemenopkids

Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.
Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.

+Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.

Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.

Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.

Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.

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Filed Under: Fall, Fine Motor, Halloween, Sensory Play Tagged With: diy, hands-on play, homemade, Kids Activities, preschool, pumpkin, sensory play

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Comments

  1. Tiffiny says

    September 18, 2014 at 11:37 pm

    I love watching little hands play too. I’ve never made cloud dough, but this looks (and I bet smells) so good that I think I might just give it a try. My daughter will love it! pinning!

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 19, 2014 at 10:35 pm

      Just something special about watching those little hands play 🙂 Your daughter and YOU will love this! I could play with cloud dough for hours! Thanks for reading! HUGS!

      Reply
  2. Lani says

    September 19, 2014 at 10:47 am

    How neat is that! I’ll definitely have to try it when my grandson comes to visit. Your little guy looks like he’s having a lot of fun!

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 19, 2014 at 10:28 pm

      Thank you Lani! It really is fun!

      Reply
  3. Amanda @artsy_momma says

    September 19, 2014 at 10:50 am

    This is such a neat idea! Pinned it to my Halloween Pinterest Board 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 19, 2014 at 10:28 pm

      Thank you Amanda!

      Reply
  4. Selena @ Look! We're Learning! says

    September 19, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Okay. Coloring the dough with sidewalk chalk is genius. Pinning!

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 19, 2014 at 10:26 pm

      Thanks Selena! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says

    September 19, 2014 at 2:43 pm

    My kids love to play with cloud dough. We’ll have to try out this pumpkin version. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 19, 2014 at 10:24 pm

      Thanks for reading Jodie!

      Reply
  6. Amy Pessolano says

    September 19, 2014 at 4:35 pm

    My first experience with Cloud Dough was such a total mess (and I usually don’t care about messes) that I kind of swore it off. But- anything pumpkin scented I’m willing to give another shot. Never would have thought to use chalk for coloring either. Great post!

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 19, 2014 at 10:23 pm

      Oh darn Amy! Sorry to hear that it was a mess! Was it messy making it or just the process of the kids playing with it? Yes, I love using chalk as coloring. Food coloring is water based and that doesn’t mix well with the vegetable oil added to cloud dough 😉 But, you live and you learn!

      Reply
  7. Savanah Fahrney-Day says

    September 19, 2014 at 4:47 pm

    What a great idea! Sensory bins are so fun to play with…I mean watch the kids play with 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 19, 2014 at 10:24 pm

      I can’t keep my hands out of them! And I’m 30 years old, LOL!

      Reply
  8. Andi says

    September 20, 2014 at 8:57 pm

    I have never heard of this before, but it seems pretty cool, like playing in sand. Suppose it is an outdoor only type of activity, or with lots of plastic underneath at a table.

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 23, 2014 at 4:10 pm

      Yes, it’s definitely messy. We usually play with it outside 🙂

      Reply
  9. Gude @HodgePodgeCraft says

    September 23, 2014 at 3:45 pm

    So much fun! Those mini pumpkins are adorable 😉
    Thanks for sharing at #Pintorials

    Reply
  10. Susen @ Dabbling Momma says

    September 25, 2014 at 7:23 am

    My 4 year old loves cloud dough and it’s one of the things she asks to play with frequently. This pumpkin cloud dough looks fantastic!

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 25, 2014 at 1:33 pm

      Oh, I love that Susen! I hope she enjoys this pumpkin dough! Thanks for reading 🙂

      Reply
  11. Marcy says

    September 25, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    Could you tell me how long would cloud dough last please?

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 29, 2014 at 2:59 pm

      Hi Marcy! It should last a good amount of time. Our last batch of cloud dough lasted for 3 months. I store ours in a rubbermaid container with a lid. You should run out before it goes bad 🙂 It’s messy!

      Reply
  12. sara says

    September 25, 2014 at 11:17 pm

    Do you think this would work with gluten free flour?

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 29, 2014 at 2:58 pm

      Hi Sara! I think it would work with gluten free flour, for sure! I would try a small amount (maybe 1 cup) of flour at first, just to make sure. If you do decide to try it, let me know how it works!

      Reply
  13. Jennifer Dawn says

    November 5, 2014 at 2:09 am

    So fluffy and fantastic! You have me wanting to play with some. 😉

    Reply

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