Fairy Dust Play Dough

Homemade play dough is a weekly staple at our house, and unfortunately, so is glitter.

Recently, Ella and I were inspired to make some fairy dust play dough with an unreasonable amount of the shimmery stuff.

Rather than present Ella with the sparkly play dough ready-made, we used our homemade bubble gum play dough and I filled a tray with various colours of glitter, and encouraged her to work the glitter into the play dough.

This served a few purposes:

• I did not get covered in glitter
• Ella worked on her fine motor muscles while working the glitter into the play dough
• Ella was able to play with the glitter in a few different ways throughout her play – tracing letters into the glitter on the tray, etc.
• I did not get covered in glitter

Materials for Sparkly Fairy Play Dough:

• Batch of homemade play dough (or even the premade stuff)
• Glitter glitter glitter (I want to say at least 1/3 of a cup to 1/2 cup in total)
• Fairy figurines
• A tray to contain the mess

I like doing art and messy activities on these standard lunch trays. They help designate a specific work area (a central Montessori concept) and encourage children to have fun within that designated area, allowing me to breathe easier knowing the mess isn’t going to spread too far, and allowing them to know that I’m not going to take away their glitter if it stays (mostly) on the tray, establishing clear expectations of behavior without need for reminders.

At first Ella sprinkled the glitter onto her play dough, watching it fall from her fingers and catch the reflections of light.

Next, she worked it in with those strong finger muscles. Kneading the glitter into the play dough was tough work.

As children get older, I purposely add a bit more flour into our play dough to make a “tougher” batch that really works their finger muscles as they play. Building finger strength is so important for children, and it is an important focus in our play – especially with an increase in the use of touch screens for entertainment.

Strong finger muscles make holding a pencil and carrying out self-care tasks easier.

Secret Tip for Removing Glitter from Skin

Because we use glitter often, I’ve tried out a lot of methods for removing glitter, and my favourite method is to rub a small amount of coconut oil (any oil) onto their skin, then cover that with soap, and wash away. You could rub oil onto the skin and then wipe away with baby wipes or a cloth, but we often have to wash hands anyways after playing with play dough, so I just combine the two.

What do you think? Do you know someone who would love some homemade fairy dust play dough?

Make sure to pin this idea for later, and check out our other homemade play dough ideas!

For more fairy-inspired sensory play, check out my friend Trisha’s Fairy Slime!