Fun Kids' Birthday Parties

Your guide to throw age-appropriate home-made fun kids’ birthday parties​

Silky Ice Cream Cloud Dough activity

Ice cream cloud dough

Cloud dough have you heard of it? It’s a bit like play dough that we all know, but way softer. Thus, it is great for small children. And what a feeling! It isn’t just a texture sensation for little hands and fingers; it’s a full sensory experience, enchanting them with its touch and delighting their sense of smell like nothing else. Really! It feels, and smells delicious.

Cloud dough is a unique, squishy, marshmallow soft like material. What’s more, it is quick and easy to make. You’ll need just three ingredients that you probably already have at home. So get prepared, because kids will love to pretend to serve and scoop silky ice-cream treats. This can go well with our birthday party theme: Fluffy birthday cake play.

I love this activity because it includes sensory play, fine motor skills and a pretend ice-cream fun play set up. The pink, yellow, and green cloud doughs recreate the most loved cold dessert that all children enjoy eating: Ice-Cream.

Cloud dough is an invitation for children to use their hand muscles for scooping and molding with a variety of measuring spoons, small plastic containers (as ice-cream cones or cups) and bowls. Also this fantastic set up will spark kids creativity by creating names for the “ice-cream flavors” and combinations with cool and original toppings like straw bead (also pony beads are good ones).

What is Cloud Dough?

Cloud dough is a soft and squishy substance like play dough made out of just three simple ingredients: cornstarch, hair conditioner, and food coloring. It can easily be made of different colors. Simply add food coloring to the preparation. Furthermore, it’s a great material for children to mold, flatten, squish, and pinch.

Have you said play dough? Well, not exactly. What is the difference between play dough and cloud dough then? Cloud dough is softer in touch than play dough. Also, it is easier to manipulate for small children between the age of 3 and 5. They can squeeze the dough without much effort.

Why Cloud Dough is a perfect activity for birthday party celebrations?

Playing with home made cloud dough is a calming and relaxing activity for children. The color, temperature (nice and cold), texture (silky, soft, and fluffy) and smell (from the hair conditioner) of the cloud dough will make them engage their senses, mind and body.

Because of its relaxing effect, it is a good idea to offer cloud dough activities after all the dancing, running, and noisy play. Another reason why cloud dough works so well at birthday parties is because it is quick and easy to make. Moreover, there is no cooking preparation.

Importantly, you can make a big batch for many children to play with in no time. Besides, you can adapt the color, and smell of cloud dough. Finally, you can spark kid’s imagination and creativity offering them some tools and toys to add to the cloud dough activity.

How to make Cloud Dough?

What you will need

  • 1/2 cups (110 g) of Hair conditioner
  • Food coloring of your choice
  • 1 1/4 cups (125 g) of cornstarch or cornflour
  • 1 Mixing bowl
  • 1 Spoon
Cloud dough ingredients

Method

  1. Combine the hair conditioner and food coloring in a bowl using a spoon. I used three to 5 drops of food coloring.
    Mix cloud dough ingredients
  2. Add 1 cup (100 g) of cornflour to the hair conditioner mixture and mix with the spoon. If the dough is too sticky add a 1/4 cup (25 g) of cornflour and use your hands to mix. The result should be a soft dough. If the dough is too dry add a little bit of hair conditioner.
  3. This recipe gives you approximately 200 grams of cloud dough.
  4. Repeat with every color you want to make.
  5. It’s ready.

Creating the Silky Ice-Cream Cloud Dough activity

Silky ice cream cloud dough

What you will need

  • A batch of home made Cloud Dough
  • 1 Chips and dip tray
  • Small plastic cups (I used play-dough containers)
  • Measuring spoons
  • Small plastic bowls
  • Straw beads (toppings)
  • Sand Molds Ice Cream (optional)

How to make it?

  1. Set up your cloud dough activity either on a kids table with chairs or on the grass on a easy clean mat surface. This activity is good for outdoors or indoors area.
  2. In your chip and dip tray place the small containers, bowls, spoons, straw beads and cloud dough. I suggest that for every two to three children there should be another chip and dip tray with cloud dough. This is to provide kids with enough dough and tools to play with.
  3. I have put on the tray 200 gram of pink, 200 gram of green, and 200 gram of yellow cloud dough. If you have other plastic medium size container to display your dough you could use it as well.
  4. You are ready to go!
Kid playing with silky ice cream cloud dough

My child’s experience

My son was truly engaged scooping the cloud dough into the small cups. He was concentrated and happy making his silky ice-cream treats. He was engaged for a very long time having a lots of fun with this fantastic activity!

Important information

This activity is recommended for children 3 and above because cloud dough is not a taste-safe dough. However, adult supervision is required for all the duration of the play.

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