Do you have any broken crayons in your crayon box? Don’t throw them away! Use those bits and pieces to create this colorful Crayon Play Dough recipe! Your kids will love using this fun play dough in their sensory activities as they learn literacy concepts and develop fine motor skills.
What You'll Find On This Page
Crayon Play Dough for Sensory Play:
Sensory activities stimulate your children’s senses of touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing. This type of play is important so your children can work on developmental and fine motor skills. Sensory play also lets your kids learn to explore, investigate, observe, experiment, and much more.
What Are The Benefits Of Playing With Play Dough?
There are so many benefits to playing with play dough! From the feel to the smell of it, your kids will use their different senses as they play, explore, and experiment.
By squeezing, rolling, and squishing the dough, your children will develop their fine motor skills and strengthen their hand muscles too. The development of these will help them learn to write and improve other pre-writing skills.
Getting Ready To Make Crayon Play Dough:
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What’s Needed:
- 1 Tablespoon of Cream of Tartar
- 1 ½ Cups of Flour
- ¾ cup of Salt
- 1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil
- 2 Crayons (Coarsely Chopped)
- 1 Cup of Water
What Else Is Needed:
- Medium Bowl
- Medium Saucepan
- Mixing Spoon
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Waxed, Freezer, or Parchment Paper
- Airtight Container
How To Make Crayon Play Dough:
To begin making this sensory recipe, combine the flour, cream of tartar, and salt in a medium bowl and set it aside.
In a medium, nonstick saucepan, add the oil and crayon. Then, constantly stir the mixture over medium heat until the crayon is melted.
Next, add the water to the saucepan. As an option, you can also add a few drops of food coloring for more vibrant colored play dough.
The wax will separate from the water but continue to stir the mixture. Then, add the dry ingredients to the pan.
When the dough comes together as a ball and the liquid has absorbed, transfer the dough to waxed, freezer, or parchment paper.
While the dough is still warm but cool to touch, knead the dough for about two minutes or until smooth.
You can store the play dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two months. Just let it warm to room temperature before playing with it.
These are the ingredients for ONE batch of crayon play dough. To make additional play dough, repeat the recipe for each color.
How To Use Crayon Play Dough:
There are so many different ways to use this play dough recipe! Here are just a few ideas for your kids:
- Your kids can practice forming letters using this recipe and alphabet play dough mats.
- Using a pencil or small dowel, your kids can practice writing letters in the play dough.
- You can give your children a sound or show them a picture and have them write the letter for that sound in the play dough.
- If your kids know all of the letters, they can practice writing simple words such as CVC words or sight words.
This Crayon Play Dough recipe can be used as a fun sensory play activity to help kids work on developmental and fine motor skills.
Pin It For Later:
Do you want to save this homemade play dough recipe for kids for later? Pin this to your sensory activities board on Pinterest and it’ll be here for when you’re ready!
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