How To Make Sand Dough

NEW sand dough recipe! So easy and fun to make and similar to our popular cloud dough recipe. This simple sand dough recipe uses just three ingredients, flour, play sand and oil for tons of hands-on fun for kids. Bonus, make your own sand dough sensory bin and explore geometric shapes for early learning. We love easy sensory play recipes!

How to make sand dough for sensory play activities with kids.

Sand Dough Recipe

Please note; this sand dough recipe is not taste safe! Our regular homemade cloud dough can be made taste safe as it’s just flour and oil.

Sand dough also doesn’t dry out and stays moist for quite a while. It’s different from our homemade kinetic sand but still heaps of fun!

Watch The Video:

Ingredients:

Bin or container
3 cups of white play sand
3 cups of flour (we have used all different kinds including gluten-free and buckwheat!)
1 cup of baby oil (or cooking oil)
Play tools like a small container for making castles and cookie cutters

Instructions:

STEP 1. Add sand to a large bin or container.

STEP 2. Add flour and combine with the sand.

STEP 3. Add oil and mix well.

You should be able to grab a chunk and mold it and have it hold. If not, you may need more oil. Too oily, add more flour!

STEP 4. Set out your sensory dough with some fun tools and time to play! See our sand dough sensory bin below.

How To Make A Sand Dough Sensory Bin

Sand dough makes for an awesome sensory bin to dig your hands into. I even love to play with it as well. It feels soft on the skin and doesn’t leave a heavy residue on the hand. Bonus, it sweeps up easily too!

TIP: Place a mat or towel under the sensory bin to catch any spills and make cleanup easier.

Dinosaur Dig Sensory Bin

Bury plastic dinosaur toys or bones in the sand dough and invite kids excavate the dinosaurs using spoons and other tools, or their hands.

Beach Sensory Bin

Mix in shells, pebbles, and toy sea creatures into the sand dough and invite kids to explore the beach-themed bin, creating scenes and playing with it.

Shapes Sensory Bin

Here we used the sand dough we made to take a look at geometric shapes. I got out all our shape cookie cutters and a potato masher {apparently that’s his standard tool with our sensory doughs}!

Sand Dough Sensory Play Shapes Play Geometric Shapes Activity

You can also use alphabet and number dough stamps or cookie cutters! Practice counting, spelling names, and so much more! Terrific hands-on learning that can be worksheet free!

We talked about the different shapes we had available, made patterns, counted sides, and then enjoyed making it smooth again! Explore more shape activities here.