Conditioner Playdough Recipe without Salt

Conditioner Playdough Recipe without Salt 

This hair conditioner playdough recipe is a great alternative to regular playdough and is made without salt. It has a soft consistency so my children particularly like the texture and consistency for squeezing and squashing it. We’ve made it with different fruit flavoured hair conditioners which smell delicious and adds an extra sensory experience.

I like making this playdough when I don’t have time to make cooked playdough… and I don’t want the bother with lots to wash up. 

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What you need for playdough without salt

• Flour (gluten-free flour optional)
• Hair Conditioner
• Food Colouring (optional)
• Glitter (optional)

The ratio for this recipe is approximately 2 to 1, so for every 1 cup of hair conditioner, you will need 2 cups of flour. This may vary slightly depending on the hair conditioner or flour that you use. If you find that your dough feels slightly gloopy, slowly add more flour, spoonful by spoonful. If the dough is cracking and crumbly, slowly add small amounts of conditioner and keep kneading it together. Adjust it slowly until you get the desired dough consistency.

Questions to ask – Conditioner playdough recipe

• How does it feel? What do you notice?
• What are you making? Tell me about this…

• Can you squeeze it, squish it, roll it, etc?
• What else can you make with it / do with it?
• How could you change it?

What they get from conditioner playdough

This conditioner playdough recipe is a lovely and easy alternative to traditional playdough. Working with it is great for children’s strength and fine motor skill development. Doing things with playdough like rolling, kneading, pinching, cutting, and using loose parts will also help children prepare the strength and motors skills that are needed to write.

Playdough play is a great open-ended activity for children. They can use their imagination to create figurines, make cakes, or whatever they dream up. 

The lovely smell from the conditioner in this playdough makes for an extra sensory experience for children. When we engage our senses in play and learning, it helps to develop new connections in the brain. The more sensory experiences we have, the greater ability we have to develop pathways in the brain for thought, learning and creativity (Gascoyne, 2016). 

Take it further

You may want to see some of my other playdough recipes such as  Homemade Playdough without Salt,  Corn Flour Conditioner Playdough – Silky & Stretchy! or Homemade Cloud Dough with Baby Oil.

You may also want to see my posts on loose parts play (coming soon). Adding loose parts to playdough play can add an extra dimension to playdough play! 🙂

 

References

Gascoyne, Sue (2016). Sensory Play: Play in the EYFS. Andrews UK Limited.