I had seen this sensory play recipe floating around for awhile and had been patiently waiting for the right time to test it out. When I was brainstorming ideas for our watermelon play theme, I happened to come across this post on Instagram and was totally inspired! It just looked so refreshing and to hear this dough described as “cool” was intriguing to me, especially for a summer time activity.

I just so happened to be heading to Target alone for the first time in months so I picked up the supplies I needed (which is literally 2 things, guys… 2- and you probably already have them)! I’m sharing an image with the recipe for you so that it can easily be pinned/saved.

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I decided to dump the baking soda and conditioner all right here on this tray and just mixed it around with a fork as best I could. Eventually, I ended up just using my hands because I felt like it needed to be molded together more than just mixed around with a fork. Once the baking soda and conditioner were pretty much combined, I added just a few drops of the food coloring at a time and went back to using the fork.

I did think maybe I should have poured all the conditioner out into a bowl or something first and just mixed the food coloring in with that instead of adding it after but it ended up working out fine the way I did it. Kade was helping me with this process and loving getting to help mix it all up. I ended up adding just a few more drops of food coloring to get a nice pink color, and once it was all combined, I spread it all out in the tray and patted it down like a big ole watermelon pie. I sprinkled some dried black beans around and Kade helped me push them into the dough to secure them- they made for perfect watermelon seeds!

I wish I could link this exact tray that I used here for you but I honestly don’t even remember where I found it- I think it was the Target dollar section last year or possibly a Michael’s store. I did find this tray on Amazon that I thought was super cute, similar to the one I used, and would be great for this activity. :)

It’s true what they say that the dough actually feels cool to the touch which is amazing and so fun for summer time! The texture reminds me a little bit of cloud dough (flour and vegetable oil), except slightly wetter/messier. It’s definitely something that you will want to wash your hands after as it kind of sticks to your skin a little- but it washes right off! It can be squished and molded into your hands but can also be kind of crumbly… so fun!

The other fun thing about this recipe is that depending on what type of conditioner you choose, it has a nice scent to it! I can’t say it smells like watermelon unless you’re lucky enough to find a watermelon-scented conditioner, BUT it does smell fresh and clean which always makes for a pleasant sensory play experience. Kade used some fine motor tweezers to grab at some of the “seeds,” and then we ended up adding some scoops/spoons and he requested a cup to do some dumping and transferring.

So why do we do sensory play anyway? The benefits of sensory play are just endless honestly. Besides the fact that it can be soothing and enjoyable for kiddos, it promotes language development, social skills, imaginative play, fosters creativity, builds vocabulary, allows kids to explore different senses, and can also help to build fine motor and gross motor skills depending on the activity.

Sensory play doesn’t always have to be messy! Yes, this activity in particular is on the messier side, BUT there are tons of other ways to engage in sensory play that are much less messy than this one. Here is a good example of a still super fun sensory bin, without the mess!

Before wrapping up, I also wanted to share some of the watermelon-themed BOOKS we’ve been reading with this play theme. We typically try our local library for themed books first but our library had literally zero children’s books on watermelon so I bit the bullet and bought these. Aside from “Down by the Bay,” (which we already had) these are all brand new and in my opinion, worth the money. ;) You can never have too many books!

- Watermelon Madness
- This Watermelon is Not Round
- The Watermelon Seed
- One Watermelon Seed
- Down by the Bay

Be sure to pin an image from this post to save the recipe - and tag us on social media if you try it out!

Did you like this activity?! Be sure to check out some of our other play-themed activity posts here:
Ocean Activities
Zoo Activities
Frog Activities
Bug Activities
Apple Activities

And be on the look out for more WATERMELON fun coming soon, too!