Children LOVE sand. Hours at the park, beach or in the back yard sandbox accumulates a large portion of our summer for the littles. To my surprise, while working at a preschool, the private school center actually did NOT allow the children to play in an outdoor sandbox due to safety precautions. As wild as that sounds, that did not deter us from bring sandboxes inside. Throughout the years there have been so many “new” products introduced on the market, and to another surprise teachers pay SO MUCH for these products to save time and energy. As a teacher, I loved seasons. I would get as creative as possible to “create” our own sensory bins while utilizing inexpensive everyday products that most homes or center already obtain. As creative with textures and visuals as we could be, we still get asked time and time again about a moon sand type recipe we have used for years. Although, I believe the texture is a bit different, this recipe can fill a bin for pennies if your center or home has the proper ingredients already. HERE it is:
Cloud Sand Dough
- 8 cups of flour
- 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil
- Oil-based food coloring of your choice
As you can gather, this recipe is a base recipe I use for the large clear totes that fit under the bed. We have done a pond unit for homeschool & preschool and place 1/2 the pool with this sand dough and it’s critters. The remaining half split with water gel beads and local rocks we collected from a previous unit.
I LOVE having activities out where the children enjoy learning without the structure. Kids love to learn naturally and through exploration & it’s such a joy to watch and be apart of!
Happy Teaching & Happy Homeschooling!