How to make candy cane play dough – fun Christmas sensory play activity.
It feels like forever since I’ve brought you a sensory play dough post. But this Candy Cane Play Dough that we made last week for Christmas has been a such a hit in our house, that I just had to share.
Candy Cane Play Dough Recipe
White play dough
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- boiling water
- white glitter (optional)
Red play dough
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon red food colouring
- boiling water
- red glitter
- red sequins
- additional red glitter (optional)
Method
- Add the flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil to two mixing bowls.
- Add white glitter (if using) to one of the bowls. (The white glitter adds a subtle sparkle). Add about 1/2 cup boiling water and mix, gradually adding more boiling water until a dough consistency is reached. Knead the dough for several minutes until the texture is smooth.
- Add red glitter and red sequins to the dry ingredients in the second bowl. Mix food colouring with boiling water to make red boiling water. Add about 1/2 cup of red boiling water to the dry ingredients, gradually adding more red boiling water until a dough consistency is reached. Knead the dough for several minutes until the texture is smooth.
- Optional: provide additional red glitter for use during play.
I set it out as an invitation to play, with a candy cane cookie cutter and a few versions of candy cane play dough shapes as above, and let the girls play!
JJ (5.5 years old) made an analog clock complete with a big hand, small hand and twelve points around the clock face. (Yay for playful maths!)
Bee (3 years and 2 months) was a little more abstract in her play. She did like playing with the candy cane shapes, and she also enjoyed making a tower of playdough pieces, generously sprinkling glitter over the top.
And then she enjoyed the challenge of trying to pick up glitter between her finger and thumb, and sprinkling it on other pieces of dough.
The good thing about this play dough recipe, is that even after some serious play, you can still make cool candy cane shapes with the two colours marbled together. The red glitter and the red sequins really pop too.
And you can store it away in a sealed container for another day. (Ours has been going strong for a week now).
Click here more play dough ideas, including:
And we have many more Christmas art, craft and play ideas too, including:
- How to make melted pony bead ornaments
- DIY fingerprint ‘Christmas Lights’ cards
- How to make a toilet paper roll Santa (with changeable facial expressions)
Or, of course, you can always subscribe to our newsletter to receive all our latest activities via email. We’d love to have you join us!
xx Danya
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