As a teacher of 12 years, I can tell you I have made my share of homemade playdough. Every time I do something a tad different. Every time I cross my fingers and hope it doesn’t flop. Every time it is the same thing. I look up popular recipes and give the recipe a try. This time, I wanted to try something different. This time, as part of our 12 months of Sensory Dough Series, I wanted to experiment with the best recipe for edible playdough.
What is Edible Playdough?
Surprisingly, this is actually a common question. Even in the group of bloggers co-hosting this series, there have been discussions about what Edible Playdough really means.
According to popular recipes and pictures found on Pinterest, you might describe Edible Playdough as:
Moldable
Ingredients that are Non-toxic
Safe to Eat
*Bonus* if it tastes good (however we have seen some that would not taste good)
The recipes vary from Cook to No-cook, Tasty to Purposefully Not Tasty, Simple to Complex and everything in between.
What Should Edible Playdough Look Like?
According to my good friends atStill Playing School,Fun at Home with Kids, andKids Activities Blog, Edible Playdough should be:
Soft
Colorful
Squooshy
Moldable
Pretty
Inviting
What Experiment Did We Do With Edible Playdough?
Since edible playdough is not as easy as throwing 2 ingredients in a bowl like cloud dough and foam dough, we knew we had to use recipes from the internet. But which ones? How would we know which ones were the BEST?
That is when we decided we would do an experiment where we tested the properties of popular edible playdough recipes based on our senses. We decided on what criteria we wanted to use to evaluate the doughs, created the doughs, played with the doughs and of course, tasted the doughs.
We decided to use a 3 point system for “grading” the doughs. 3 would be Awesome and amazing. 2 meant it was “okay”. 1 was not desired. I did not have the printable made in time for our experiment, but I have included a free printable for you, in case you want to compare a variety of doughs.
My Observations: Free Printable
Mixing the Edible Play Dough
First we mixed each of the recipes together, before starting our observations. Feeling the dough mix together in the their fingers was an important step I didn’t want the boys to miss.
To get the recipes we love and tested, be sure to visit:
Still Playing School for Nutella Playdough
Kids Activities Blog for 3 Ingredient Playdough
Fun at Home with Kids for Baby Safe Playdough
Testing Each Dough
Each dough had its pros and cons. With each dough we squeezed, rolled, and even sculpted. With each new dough, the boys compared and contrasted.
First we tested the Nutella Dough. Legoman (age 8) liked to describe it as having an Oobleck feel. It would form but it was hard to the touch. If you left it for some time, it would begin to ooze and change shape.
With each recipe, the boys observed the appearance, the smell, the feel and moldability, and the taste of the dough.
One of their favorite moldable doughs, was the baby safe dough recipe. Super B really enjoyed playing with the dough, but because it was her bedtime, I was not able to give her enough time with the dough.
Were We Successful At Making Edible Playdough?
However, this month that was the point of our experiment. The boys had to evaluate the doughs separately based on the criteria we selected and determine the success of each dough.
It was interesting, actually. The boys both agreed that all three doughs were AMAZING for different reasons. Legoman is very sensitive to smells, so the 3 ingredient dough and the baby safe dough bothered him. However, he was the first to say that he loved the way these felt.
Bones was able to find a favorite in the Nutella playdough. He loved the smell, the feel and the way it tasted. Both boys agreed that all of these doughs deserve their place as the best of the best edible doughs on the internet.
In fact, we loved them so much, that we packed them up in our portable sensory bins and have them ready to use for the rest of the week.
Would you call this recipe a success or a fail? Do you have a favorite Edible Playdough recipe that you consider a success or do you have a fail you want to share? We want to see! Link up your recipes or post pictures toFacebook,Instagram,TwitterorGoogle+. Tag your pictures with #ilovesensorydough.
Be sure to check out each blogger, as we will each provide a different take on the dough, some of us with have theBESTrecipe ever, while others (probably me) will show you our attempts (both failed and successful)
You can read moreabout each Co-hostsand moreabout the Series or follow along below:
Lemon Lime Adventure~Look! We’re Learning!~Glittering Muffins~Still Playing School~
Little Bins for Little Hands!~Natural Beach Living~The Eyes of a Boy~Powerful Mothering~
Wildflower Ramblings!~I Heart Crafty Things~Delightful Learning~The Life of Jennifer Dawn
Please read the following guidelines before linking up.
- Share family-friendly posts related to the month’s theme. Feel free to link old or new posts that highlight your favorite recipes for sensory dough. Failures and unsuccessful attempts are welcome.
- We ask that no posts are linked with copy/paste recipes from other sources. If you use a recipe from another source, please link back to the original recipe.
- By linking up, you give permission to share your post and one photograph in future posts and through social media channels.
- Visit 2-3 other posts that others have shared. Discover new ideas and meet new friends!
- If you would like to, please grab the12 Months of Sensory Doughbutton for your blog.
The linky will remain open all year. On the 12th of each month, all co-hosts will post a new dough with their spin, highlighting at least one post from the month before and pin each post to the12 Months of Sensory Dough Board.
Follow Lemon Lime Adventures’s board Best of the Best Sensory Dough on Pinterest.
