Reuse broken chalk and engage in fun sensory play. Follow our 3-ingredient coloured cloud dough recipe – a simple kids activity to engage in play-based learning.
The end of the season is always bittersweet for me. While I’m excited for cool fall air and multicoloured leaves, I also hate packing away stuff we haven’t quite finished using like the shorts they haven’t entirely grown out of and may not fit next season. Or, the partially used bubbles, open sunscreen, and the broken down chalk just make we wish we could just finish off before moving on.
Though I hardly have a solution for all of the former items, we have a simple kids activity that resolves the issue of the latter. Specifically, we recently made coloured cloud dough using a broken down box of chalk. It’s three ingredients. An awesome way to engage in sensory play and so much fun!
Related reading: Science says this is why sensory play is so important
How to make coloured cloud dough using old chalk
What we use
- a food processor with a grater attachment or a box grater
- coloured chalk of your choice
- 8 cups of flour
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- an aluminum pan
- a disposable table cloth
What we did to make coloured cloud dough
I let my kids choose to two colours of sidewalk chalk. We put the colours into the food processor separately so they could have the fun of dumping their respective colours in when we were mixing the dough. I’ve grated chalk by hand before and it is tedious, but it does work. The food pressor does it in seconds. Then, we headed outside on to our shaded front porch with the aluminum pan, the table cloth, and our ingredients. With the plastic sheet down, I set down the pan, and we dumped everything in. You can add more oil or flour to change up the consistency. Mix well with your hands. Then grab the toys of your choice and play!
This mixture will keep for months to come. The sheet does a wonderful job of catching anything that’s come out of the pan and is a great way to wrap up the pan with for storing.
Do you have any great upcycled crafts? Please share them below!
workingmommagic says
Such a great idea! I love cloud dough so much!
mommyinsports says
Can you believe I make play doh all the time and have never made cloud dough? Couldn’t wait to read this after your scope! Pinning and stumbling!
mamabyfire says
This looks like so much fun! I have a big bag of leftover chalk-it makes me crazy actually. Now I have something I can do with it! I’m pretty sure this would entertain my daughter for quite some time.
Vera diagrams says
Cool idea.. gotta try it with my kids
Twitchetts.com says
We are sooo doing this!! I have a whole box of pink chalk I had to buy just for 1 stick to write a sign for V’s birthday…. Will share pics!!
triciathegoodmama says
Oh what a great idea! My son is obsessed with his chalk though, so I’m going to have to sneak away some of the smaller bits. It’s so funny that no matter how hard I try to put all the chalk back after each use, the chalk box always ends up looking the same.
Shirley Martinez says
Love this! Can’t wait to try it with our 4 boxes!
Joanna says
What a creative idea! I have yet to make cloud dough for my kids although I have seen it EVERYWHERE. I think they would love the addition of color:)
Melissa says
How did the food processor do with the chalk? Not too bad to clean up? Would love to try this!
Tricia says
Oh what a great idea! My son is obsessed with his chalk though, so I’m going to have to sneak away some of the smaller bits. It’s so funny that no matter how hard I try to put all the chalk back after each use, the chalk box always ends up looking the same.
Homemade Experience says
How cute! And simple. Although, we haven’t been too much for chalk yet, I’m thinking chalking may be a good thing to let our oldest do next summer. So, this will come in handy! Pinned 🙂
The Trophy WifeStyle says
What a fun and neat idea! I never heard of cloud dough! Love the name of it though hehehe… So need to make this for Haylie