Oatmeal Play Dough for Sensitive Skin: Cookie Bake Shop Play
We first developed and shared this homemade play dough recipe for no-cook play dough cookies in 2013!
It was our first successful no-cook play dough recipe, and I love how gentle it is on children’s skin.
I was playing around with some play dough recipes to donate to Ella’s Reggio Emilia daycare, when it occurred to me how dry my hands felt after a couple of batches. I have more sensitive skin than Ella’s glorious Mediterranean skin, so it occurred to me that traditional play dough might be really irritating for children with sensitive skin — something that I hadn’t even considered!
Right away, I knew that the recipe could not contain salt because salt is incredibly drying. The cream of tartar is great for skin (often being used to heal rashes and cracks) and also acts as a preservative so I kept that ingredient.
I decided to use 2 parts quick oats to 1 part flour in the recipe, for its skin-calming effects, which also meant that I didn’t want to use boiled water in case it cooked the oatmeal! This meant making a no-cook play dough.
I wash my face and condition Ella’s hair with coconut oil, so I thought it was also worth substituting that for vegetable oil.
This was also the first time Ella was allowed to make play dough herself. I figured even if the recipe didn’t work, she’d have fun playing bake shop and mixing all of the ingredients together.
We first tried a simple vanilla recipe, which ended up smelling like sugar cookie dough! I pre-dyed some rice to offer as “sprinkles,” just like we did during our ice cream play dough invitation.
Next, and possibly our favourite version of play dough cookies, was this chocolate chip cookie version. We used black beans to substitute in for chocolate chips, but you could always make a bit of our chocolate play dough.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Play Dough Recipe:
- Quick Cook Oats
- Water
- Flour
- Salt
- Cream of Tartar <– I buy the big container or from a bulk store as those little jars are so expensive! A bulk container will last us for months of play dough making – and can also be used for soft sugar cookies, snickerdoodle cookies, etc.
- Cocoa powder
- Cinnamon (optional – can potentially irritate skin)
- Vanilla Extract
- Coconut Oil
Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.
Mix dry ingredients fully together. Measure out water in a measuring cup and add the other wet ingredients, stirring until they are fully incorporated.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until the mixture is completely moist and resembles a cookie dough. There is no kneading required for this recipe.
(And just because I can’t help myself – here are some pictures of a not-quite-two year old Ella the first time we made this recipe. How did she get so big?!)
I hope you love this easy homemade play dough recipe for chocolate chip cookie play dough, and be sure to check out the rest of our homemade play dough recipes.
Grab our free printable recipe for this oatmeal play dough:
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Sugar, Spice and Glitter.
Oatmeal Play Dough for Sensitive Skin: Cookie Bake Shop Play
Homemade play dough recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Play Dough - this easy no-cook play dough recipe is perfect for sensitive skin
Materials
- 1 cup quick cook oats
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional - can potentially irritate skin)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 cup cold water
Tools
- Black Beans
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Bake Shop Items
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients fully together. Measure out water in a measuring cup and add the other wet ingredients, stirring until they are fully incorporated.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until the mixture is completely moist and resembles a cookie dough. There is no kneading required for this recipe.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Just made this fun dough for our Pancake Week, at the Before & Afterschool Program I work at. I didn’t have Cream of Tartar, so used equal amounts Corn Starch instead. Worked great!
Smells fantastic! We are going to have so much fun making our pretend pancakes!
Great substitution suggestion! I’m so glad you gave it a try and hope the kids in your program loved it!