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Creamy Coconut Play Dough Recipe

February 27, 2014 by Anna Ranson

Make some wonderfully creamy coconut play dough with this easy, 2-ingredient recipe! It smells wonderful and is so soft and bright! It makes a perfect invitation to play with coconut play dough and natural loose materials. It is scented sensory fun and fine motor development all rolled into one  for little ones!Creamy coconut play dough recipe with 2 ingredients!

 

Recently I posted about the silky soft play dough recipe for sensitive skin. It was so wonderfully soft and gorgeous to manipulate that I was keen to make more for the girls to enjoy.

This time we used the exact same method but changed one of the ingredients, back to the original idea that we had found at Play Create Explore.Ingredients in super soft coconut play dough recipe

 

How to make creamy coconut play dough:

Ingredients needed:

1 cup cornflour (cornstarch)

5 tbsps coconut hair conditioner

Method:

Simply tip 1 cup of cornflour into a bowl then add 5 tablespoons of hair conditioner.

Make sure to mix each spoonful in one at a time until the final one, and then put your hands in to knead it into a ball. It shouldn’t be sticky but if it is for some reason, then take it out and continue to roll and knead it on a surface with cornflour sprinkled onto it, until it is right.

If it is too dry then dip your fingertips into some conditioner and knead again.

When it is ready it will be wonderfully smooth, soft and squishy, like a ball of the softest play dough ever! How to make creamy coconut play dough with two simple ingredients

 

It is bright white and smells just wonderful, like a fresh coconut, and makes for really fantastic sensory play time!

I then set it out as an Invitation to Play     for the girls to discover and explore with added extras, with an emphasis on exploring texture and pattern.Invitation to play with coconut play dough and loose parts

Included in this invitation to play:

a dish of desiccated coconut shavings

some pine cones

a jar of wooden beads in various tones, shapes and patterns

a rolling pin

Creamy coconut play dough

They sprinkled on the coconut shavings to become ice cream with sprinkles, then we kneaded it into the dough to add texture.

Making patterns in coconut play dough

 

By rolling the pine cones in the dough sideways and pushing them down from the top, different patterns could be created in the dough’s surface.

The beads were lovely for counting,  making patterns and pushing in and pulling out of the dough. Exploring coconut play dough with natural beads

As with the sensitive skin play dough, this play dough does not last long due to the cornflour ingredient, which has a tendency to dry out and crumble. It could probably last a few days if sealed tight and kept in the fridge, but we chose to use it as a one-time only recipe.

Soft and silky play dough recipe for sensitive skin types

However, if you are looking for a very long lasting, no-cook play dough that takes just a few minutes to make then our  Best Ever Play Dough Recipe is for you! Tried, tested and recommend by hundreds of readers over the past few years, it really is fabulous!

4+minute+play+dough

See hundreds of ways to play with play dough here in our archives (we are addicted!)

And a quick reference guide to a complete A-Z of play dough recipes and activities, all from this site!

A-Z+of+play+dough+recipes+and+activities+title

Looking for natural play ideas? Here are 10 Natural Play Dough recipes to try!

10-Natural-Play-Dough-Recipes-666x1000

Here’s a fun way to use play dough to make Easter egg surprises!

Homemade play dough surprise eggs for easter

 

What they are learning as they play:

physical: fine motor strengthening and development

creative: using one item to represent another in role play and imaginative play, combining materials

Cakie: 5.5

Pop: 3.11

Bean: 2.0

 

 

Related Posts

  • Easy Gluten Free Play Dough RecipeEasy Gluten Free Play Dough Recipe
  • Best Ever Chocolate Play Dough RecipeBest Ever Chocolate Play Dough Recipe
  • Calming Natural Eucalyptus Play DoughCalming Natural Eucalyptus Play Dough
  • Chamomile Play Dough Recipe
  • Silky Soft Play Dough Recipe for Sensitive Skin
  • Orange and Lemon Play Dough

Filed Under: Age, Create, Invitations to Play, Make, Play, Play Recipes, Playdough, Preschooler, Scented Play, School Age, Sensory, Texture Tagged With: Play Dough, Play Recipe

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Comments

  1. Another-Mom says

    February 27, 2014 at 3:46 pm

    This is wonderful! Thank you for the great idea – pinecones for texture! How had I missed that?

  2. Katie / The Surly Housewife says

    February 28, 2014 at 4:03 am

    I am always looking for new sensory and play dough recipes since my kids LOVE them! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂

  3. Kate - An Everyday Story says

    February 28, 2014 at 10:33 am

    I bet it smells wonderfully beautiful. And what a gorgeous bright white colour. Mmmm I love coconut

  4. Leanne Neale says

    February 28, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    We’ve literally just made this and it is fabulous! My 3 year old loves it and has so far spent half an hour just watching it stretch and fall from his hands. Even the 11 month old has given it a few pokes and pinches! Wonderful idea, thank you 🙂

  5. Jeanine says

    March 1, 2014 at 2:28 pm

    Ok, you are the queen of playdough recipes!!! This is perfect! I remember purchasing the coconut flakes ages ago with a playdough idea in mind but, nothing like this!! AWESOME! Thank you SOO much for all of the time and energy you put into sharing these recipes and fun with alll of your many world wide readers 😀 You’re Wonderful!!
    Jeanine from Canada 😉

  6. Angela says

    March 2, 2014 at 6:39 am

    I’m unsure how well this will work with the coconut playdough, but I use it with marshmallow fondant for cakes and in my childrens regular playdough when it gets a bit dry and crumbly. Just add in small amounts glycerine. For a batch the size of the recipe above just a few drops should be fine. Knead it in and voila! Glycerine is great for making bubbles too.

  7. Dawn Alonso says

    March 3, 2014 at 12:14 pm

    I have made this today at the pre school I work, it was lovely at first but then crumbled & went everywhere. Not sure if I would make again.

    • zu says

      June 21, 2014 at 3:31 pm

      The problem could be the ingredients listed as cornflour is not the same as corn starch. If you used cornflour that might be the issue.

  8. Sonya says

    March 4, 2014 at 5:27 am

    Have you tried using coconut oil instead of conditioner? Conditioner has so many different odd ingredients in it.

  9. Ilovecrafts1234 says

    March 8, 2014 at 12:13 am

    Can you use regular conditioner??
    I have regular and I don’t feel like going out and buying some.

    • Anonymous says

      May 2, 2014 at 10:34 am

      You can just use regular conditioner 😀 I tried it at pre school where I work and the kids loved it!

  10. gsffgsfhsjygfd says

    March 8, 2014 at 12:14 am

    Great idea!!!

  11. nancy guimaraes says

    March 11, 2014 at 10:07 am

    The creamy coconut play dough is great! We let it dry for 2/3 days and it became tough and very good to paint. We don´t want any other play dough recipe thanks!!

  12. Zohra says

    March 16, 2014 at 3:24 pm

    New art and craft and sensory/investigative adeas

  13. Anna says

    May 2, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    Amazing – just made it, can’t wait to play with it, I mean my little girl to play with! 😉

  14. wendy says

    May 3, 2014 at 10:25 pm

    Another fab recipe for playdough!

  15. Donna says

    May 12, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    I just followed your recipe for the coconut dough. Was wondering why you used 5 tbs. of conditioner and the blog Play, Create used 3/4 cup? Mine seems a little crumbly. Just curious about the amounts you used.

    Also, I did buy conditioner at Dollar store, but the smell is starting to get to me. I am going to regular store and find a different brand and try again! Thanks!

  16. Tarsha says

    July 1, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    My girls and I have been planning to make this for a while and I’m glad we finally did! I couldn’t find cream of tartar at either of the grocery stores in my small town, so I used baking powder instead. I also used coconut oil (it’s summertime, so it was a liquid consistency) since I didn’t have any vegetable oil. Both substitutions worked beautifully. We made yellow, blue, and green dough and decided to scent each color with lemon, lavender, and peppermint essential oils. We’re out of red food coloring, but I probably will buy some since the girls are having so much fun mixing the colors to make new ones.

    • Tarsha says

      July 1, 2014 at 8:29 pm

      Oops! Just realized that I posted this under the wrong recipe. It was in response to the “Best Ever No-Cook” recipe.

  17. Amanda says

    July 13, 2014 at 7:52 pm

    I find that it leaves pieces in my hand. Have I done something wrong? Thanks.

  18. Nadne says

    August 1, 2014 at 8:56 pm

    This turned out ok. It wasn’t amazing playdough but for only two ingredients it was a fast craft. I thnk the type of conditioner you use will probably yield different results.

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