Corn Flour Conditioner Playdough – Silky & Stretchy!

Silky & Stretchy Corn Flour Conditioner Playdough Recipe

This super silky and stretchy corn flour conditioner playdough is a fun alternative to traditional playdough. I would describe it’s consistency as a cross between traditional playdough and ooblek. It is really easy to make and doesn’t involve any cooking. Depending on what hair conditioner you use, it will have a lovely smell as well!

It works well for sensory play and developing strength and motor skills. My son enjoys pulling, stretching and squishing it. It can also be moulded and pressed so my son also enjoys patting it down and pressing objects into it to make impressions.

What you need to make silky stretchy playdough

• Corn flour
• Hair conditioner (I use whatever cheap conditioner I can find but usually one that is fruit flavoured or something that smells nice!)
• Food colouring (optional)
• Glitter (optional)

• Bowl
• Measuring cup
• Spatula/ spoon (for scraping conditioner out of measuring cup & mixing)

The ratio for this recipe is 5:2, so combine 5 cups of corn flour for every 2 cups of conditioner. For a small batch you can mix 2.5 cups of corn flour with 1 cup of conditioner.

However, depending on the conditioner it may be a bit gloopy/sticky or flaky/dry. When I’ve made it, it can be slightly on the wet side so I add 1 spoonful of cornflour at a time until it is no longer gloopy.

The downside to this playdough is that it doesn’t last as long as traditional playdough. It dries out if quickly if you leave it out, but you can ‘refresh’ it by sprinkling a little bit of water on it and remixing it. Covering it up or wrapping it with food wrap will also keep it fresher for longer. However, once it dries out is never quite the same and can become a bit more like oobleck.

What they get from Corn Flour Conditioner Playdough

This is an easy dough to make with chidlren and will give young children practice following a simple recipe and measuring ingredients.

This playdough has a stretchy consistency and children will particularly enjoy pulling, stretching and squashing it. These actions will all help children build their strength, coordination and motor skills. These are all essential prerequisite skills that need to be developed to support fine motor dexterity required for writing (Buckner, 2019).

It can also be a lovely open-ended play activity. If you give children different objects to play with, they can use playdough in a wide range of ways.

Take it further

You may want to see my other playdough recipies. To start you may want to see my Pumpkin Spice Playdough Recipe. I will also have further sensory playdough recipies coming soon.

References

Buckner, M. (2019) Therapy for street Kids. Available at: http://www.therapystreetforkids.com/aboutus.html (accessed 26 July 2019).