Glow in the Dark Play Dough

Welcome to another edition of the 12 Months of Sensory Dough. This month is all about Glowing Dough. This past week as I’ve dropped my boys off at school we’ve been able to see the moon off in the distance in the sky in front of us. The other day it was so big and seemed so close and my daughter leaned over to one of my son’s and said, “I’m going to ask Mommy to get a big, big ladder and climb up and get the Moon for me.” True story! It was pretty adorable! As I thought about our Glowing Dough challenge and our recent excitement over seeing the moon in the sky each morning, I decided to make Glow in the Dark Play Dough and combine it with moon and star cookie cutters to make our own pretend night sky.
GlowintheDarkPlaydough

 

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We couldn’t make this dough without incorporating some of our favorite books! Here are two of our favorites that have a moon theme.

 

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle

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Monica wants the moon to play with, so her Papa sets out to get it for her. It isn’t easy to climb all the way up to the moon, but he finally succeeds — only to find that the moon is too big to carry home! The way in which this problem is solved is a joyful surprise. Make sure to check out our Textured Moon Craft that goes along with this book!

 

I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay

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It is about a young boy who took an imaginary journey with the moon at nighttime, where they go places and discover the beauty of the World after dark. I like how this book encourages children to have an imagination and be creative. Make sure to check out our Moon Drawings Craft that also goes along with this book.

 

How to Make Glow in the Dark Play Dough

 

You won’t believe how simple it is to make this Glow in the Dark Play Dough! We opted to make it a no-cook version but you could easily adapt any cooked version. Here is the recipe we put together for our dough:

 

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 cup salt

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp cream of tartar

2 cups boiling water

6 oz glow in the dark paint (we used three 2 oz bottles purchased at Michael’s)

 

Directions:

1. Add your flour, salt, oil and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl. Pour your 2 cups of boiling water on top of your ingredients and mix the ingredients together and knead together as much as possible. At this point my play dough wasn’t a perfect consistency, it was a little dry, but that’s ok because you are adding 6 oz of liquid paint to even out the dryness.

 

2. Add your 6 oz of glow in the dark paint to your play dough. Use your hands to knead the paint into the dough until it is incorporated completely throughout the dough. (Warning: If the dough is still too hot to handle from the hot water, let it sit for a couple minutes until you begin the kneading process!)

 

3. After my paint was incorporated I added another small dusting of flour onto my dough and kneaded it in. You may not need to do this. It just depends on the consistency on how your play dough feels. You be the judge!

 

4. Put your play dough into your mixing bowl, cover it with saran wrap, and place it under a light source to help activate it’s “glow” effect until you’re ready to play with it.

 

GlowintheDarkPlayDough

 

Our dough worked without having to use a black light but depending on the type of glow paint you buy, you may need to have a black light in order for your dough to properly glow. Make sure to read the label on your paint bottle to make sure you’re prepared with a black light if you need one.

 

GlowintheDarkPlayDough1

 

We also learned it’s hard to use cookie cutters in the dark, even with the dough glowing. So if you want to make a specific scene with cookie cutters, you may want to do it in the light and then turn off the lights to view it in it’s perfection.

 

GlowintheDarkPlayDough2
As a reminder, this play dough is not safe to eat. If you have toddlers or children who will try to eat or taste this play dough, do not make it! The glow in the dark paint in the play dough is not safe for consumption! As with all activities involving paint, I recommend washing your hands after playing with this play dough.
GlowintheDarkPlayDough3

If the glow in your play dough starts to fade while you’re playing with it, it will need to be activated under a light source for a time period and then should glow again. We just barely made our play dough so I’m not sure how long it lasts, but I imagine it lasts as long as any normal play dough recipe lasts.

 

Read our other months from the series with a Book Recommendation and Invitation to Play Activity:

 

Cupcake Foam Dough

Digging for Worms Could Dough

Build a Ladybug with Edible Play Dough

Making Lemon Trees with Scented Play Dough

Small Crab World with DIY Moon Sand

Make a Banana Split Ice Cream Dough

Fizzy Dough Alphabet Ocean Hunt

Monster Slime

Pumpkin Play Dough Invitation to Play

 

October

 

Check out the other Co-hosts posts this month about No Cook Play Dough:  

 

Lemon Lime Adventure

 

Now it’s your turn…

 

Do you have a favorite Glowing Dough recipe, activity or post you would like to share? We would love to see! Have you ever had a Glowing Dough Fail? We would love to see those too! Please link up your posts below in the link party. You can also post a picture on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Google+ with the tag #ilovesensorydough.

 

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!
The linky will remain open for two weeks. On the 12th of each month, all co-hosts will post a new dough with their spin, and will pin each post to the 12 Months of Sensory Dough Board.

November
Don’t forget to join us next month (November 12th) for Salt Dough.
To see the yearly schedule, go HERE.

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