Moon Sand Stars for Matilda Mae

Today’s messy play was inspired by the lovely Susanne at Ghostwriter Mummy.

The simplicity of her measurements appealed to me.

A whole packet of flour and a whole bottle of baby oil.

What could go wrong?

Nothing!

Nothing went wrong.

Today we made perfect cloud dough or moon sand.

And it was really rather lovely.

It was silky soft to the touch and gently scented.

It felt feathery and light.

This sand can be moulded into shapes and can be sprinkled over body parts.

You can sink your toes into it or pat it onto your tummy.

All of these things and more were explored today, much to the amusement of Aunty Carolyn.

Esther and William loved squeezing the oil into the flour.

We made the soft fluffy sand in a plastic tub before sprinkling it into our play tray.

William was straight in there.

Desperate to get the sand between his toes.

To rub the grains between his fingers.

Esther was not far behind him and was soon sitting down.

Dribbling the moon dough over her arms and legs.

I brought lots of utensils from the kitchen

For Esther and William to use in their play.

They liked scooping up the sand

And filling all the different pots and containers.

We tried making different shapes with our play dough cutters.

We made some stars for Matilda Mae.

We tried to make some castles in the sand.

Practising for the summer.

We filled the buckets (plastic cups)

Patted down the sand

Turned them over and tapped them

Including the all important magic tap

And then there was a castle, of sorts!

We need more practise.

And I sure that Aunty Carolyn will be pleased to know

We have kept the dough!

Once Esther and William had their fill of scooping, shaping and moulding

It was time to get out

The trains!

Today we played with trains and tunnels.

We re-enacted Thomas in the snow.

We talked about landslides.

There was a lot of skidding and crashing and falling off the track.

There were lots of rescues and engines getting stuck inside tunnels.

William loved seeing all the sand stick to the wheels.

Esther loved making tracks in the sand.

We built ramps and roundabouts, ridges and bridges

As we explored the sand with the trains.

Once Esther and William had enough of play

We decided as we often do

To get out bowls of water and wash our trains.

I could not find our usual water play bowls

So William had a bucket and Esther a biscuit tin.

They were only meant to wash the trains

I did not for one minute think they would try to get in!

The messy play changed to impromptu water play

And my two little troubles had the most wonderful time!

Dipping their toes in the soapy water

And getting as much of themselves in the swim as they could!

Cloud dough, moon sand, a soft feathery scented essential for toddler sensory play.

Water, the best play material there is.

Especially in the eyes of my double trouble.

What a lovely afternoon.

Thank you Susanne.

Thank you Aunty Carolyn.

Hope you saw your stars Matilda Mae x

Was funny without you there x

19 thoughts on “Moon Sand Stars for Matilda Mae

  1. That looks like amazing fun, so glad to see them enjoying theirselves. I am now about to order a tuff spot and try all these wonderful activities out with my little one. Thank you for the inspiration, and thinking of you and your Matilda too.

  2. You are so much braver about messy play than me. Just the thought of getting all the moon sand over my floor makes me twitch nervously, but I think I have to bite the bullet and give messy play a go. Esther and William always seem to have so much fun x

  3. Wow – looks like amazing fun. Thanks for all the ideas & the link to gostwritermummy’s page too. We will be trying it soon!

  4. Cloud dough is one of our favourites here, and your photos make me smile, I certainly recognise the progression of play, from dough, to washing up, to water play. Happens that way here too!

  5. Looks like so much fun, we will definitely be doing this. I must get one of those play trays. We do lots of messy play, but mainly get our hands dirty rather than our feet. The kids find a way of course, and can squeeze into the smallest of buckets and basins, but a play tray would be even better!

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  8. Dear Jenny

    I just received my tuff spot yesterday and I wanted to thank you (and Suzanne) again for the wonderful idea. We’ve just spent a wonderful hour or so playing with the moon dough and my little girl loves it! She loved the glittery butterflies I put in the dough and we made butterflies with our cookie cutters.

    Thinking of you all, especially your little MM.

    xxxx

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