Sensory doughs like play dough, kinetic sand, and cloud dough are all great for sensory play, sensorial exploration and the development of imagination and creativity. 

BUT what you may not know is they also work to strengthen the hands, a necessary pre-writing and pre-scissor skills step. 

Children without the hand strength to properly hold writing utensils and scissors will struggle to master these skills. That's why activities like this, as well as art, puzzles, practical life activities, and transfer work are all wonderful ways to prepare your child for kindergarten or Casa. 

DIY Kinetic Sand Recipe

If you've never played with kinetic sand before, just note that it has a different texture than play dough. It can hold it's shape but it's also looser and more crumbly, sort of like wet sand you would find at the beach. Some people prefer homemade kinetic sand over store bought kinetic sand because it’s made of food products.

This can make it a little bit messier than play dough, although I find it's about the same. If you don't like messy play in the house, summer is a great time of year to get outside and play with it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour (or more if you want to make more, just keep it at a 4:1 ratio of flour to oil)
• 1/4 (vegetable oil or mineral oil both work well)
• 10-15 drops of oil-based food colouring (found in craft stores like Michaels), if you want to colour the kinetic sand
  
  *Note that you cannot use regular food colouring because it's water based and won't mix with the oil. Don't stress about colouring it though, the sandy colour on its own is just as fun. 

Steps

1. Mix 1 cup of flour with 1/4 cup of oil. If you're using food colouring, add it directly to the oil before mixing with the flour. 
   
    
   
   
2. Gently mix together with your hands. 
   
   
   
   
3. Dump the mixture onto a baking sheet, bin, or tray for exploration.
   
   
   
   
4. Add any loose parts you think will be of interest to your child to enrich their exploration.
   
   You could add some:
   - Cookie cutters
   - Kitchen tools
   - Small animals
   - Playdough placemats
   
   
   
   
5. When finished, store in an airtight container.

Feel free to experiment and create your own kinetic sand recipe by adjusting the ingredients to achieve the desired texture and consistency.