Take your homemade playdough to a whole new level of FUN with this amazing Color Changing Playdough recipe. This color changing play dough is sure to be a hit with toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, and 2nd grade children alike. Plus this colour changing playdough helps teach children about color mixing with a cool science activity for kids of all ages!
Color Changing Playdough
Get ready to thoroughly impress your kids with this fun play recipe that doubles as both a science activity and kids activity all in one! This color changing playdough recipe is definitely one of those cool projects for kids you must try. It takes the fun of making creations as you roll the play dough, use cookie cutters, use a kit like a fun factory, roll snakes, make letters, use hands on playdough mats, and strengthening hand muscles to a whole new level! Preschoolers, toddlers, kindergartners, grade 1, and grade 2 age children will have fun playing with this sensory activity that will actually change colors right before their very eyes!
And if you want to turn this into a fun, educational, learning activity – you can even teach them about science of the color changing process. Plus don’t miss our DIY lava lamp, walking water capillary action science experiment, and pretty jelly bean experiment
Thermochromic Recipes
Before you start, you need to decide what your color scheme will be for the playdough. It will start out one color based on the thermochromic pigment you use (when the dough is cold), and change to an alternating color based on the food coloring you used (hot color). You wan to think color wheels when picking your colors as you will see variations of the colors as the hot and cold colors mix….Think color wheel neighbors to make the transition smooth.
Heat Sensitive Playdough
Ready to make your heat sensitive play dough? Mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup salt, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, and 3-5 teaspoons Thermochromic pigment (in the color of your choice) in a bowl.
Colour changing playdough
In a second bowl mix 3/4 cup very hot water, 2 tablespoons baby oil (or cooking oil if you prefer), food coloring (for your 2nd color), and a few drops of glycerin (optional). Now mix dry and wet ingredients together.
Magic playdough
Allow the dough to rest for five minutes to absorb all the water.
Color changing play dough
This is such a fun homemade playdough recipe! Kids will be amazed by how the dough changes colors when they touch it with their warm hands! My kids squealed with delight and amazement!
Preschool science
Kids can roll it into balls and slice it in half to see how the interior is colder than the outside and therefore a different color.
Playdough REcipe
If your dough isn’t changing colors very much, it could be that your child’s hand and the room isn’t very different in temperature. Try putting your playdough in the freezer 10-30 minutes and then play!
You could also do the reverse and leave the dough outside in the warm sun. Have your child rub an ice cube on their hand so they are extra chilly and dry thoroughly. Now what happens to the color color changing dough?
Heat Changing Playdough
Take your homemade playdough to a whole new level of FUN with this amazing Color Changing Playdough recipe. Fun for kids of all ages!
Playdough Recipes
- Favorite Playdough Recipes including: edible pumpkin playdough, easy marshmallow playdough, 2-ingredient easy playdough recipe, scented apple pie playdough, easy peanut butter playdough, jello strawberry playdough, fun watermelon playdough, quick conditioner playdough, amazing ice cream play doh, epic color changing playdough, quick peeps playdough, hot chocolate playdough recipe, kool aid playdough, playful funfetti playdough, peppermint stretchy playdough, fall candy corn playdough recipe, lemonade playdough, sceted apple pie playdough, cool glow in the dark playdough
Playdough Activies
- TONS of free printable playdough mat to print and play (plus more free printable playdough mats on our sister site
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- See all our free printable playdough mats preschool playdough mats, kindergarten playdough mats
Summer Activities for Kids
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Summer Activities
Looking for more outdoor activities for kids and things to do in the summer? Your toddler, preschool, pre k, kindergarten, and elementary age kids will love these fun ideas to keep them busy all summer long:
- Make a Marshmallow Shooters – go over 30 feet or PVC Marshmallow Blasters, whip up some edible marshmallow playdough, and then add smores free camping math worksheets or camping math activities for preschoolers, finally play some no-prep campfire games
- Play with homemade color changing slime, Sand Slime, or watermelon slime, Kool Aid Playdough , vibrant Sidewalk Chalk Paint for Kids, yummy sandcastle ice cream, or make your own aqua magic sand
- Try some summer projects: balloon hovercraft, DIY scribble bot, foosball summer activity for kids, easy pool noodle race track, flow in the dark fairy jar, GIANT bubbles with this Homemade Bubble Solution, FUN Bubble Painting, must try Lego Zipline, Homemade Chalk Recipe, yummy How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag, I Spy DIY Bottles, epic Squirt Gun Painting, must try rocket experiment, or Water Balloon Games for Kids
- Don’t miss summer science projects: Water Balloon Experiment exploring density, sunscreen experiment for kids, colorful lemon volcano experiment, Exploding Watermelon, Vinegar and Baking Soda Rocket , amazing fireworks in a jar experiment, balloon rocket experiment for preschool, melting sandcastle summer experiment, and lots more summer science experiments
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- Plan a Beach Theme week with Free Beach Worksheets, summer density tower, easy sand volcano, sandcastle letter tracing
- 75+ FUN Scavenger Hunts for Kids including our popular Zoo Scavenger Hunt
- Nothing says summer like Ice Cream! Try our edible ice cream Playdough, make Playdough Patterns, super cool ice cream volcano, puffy paint ice cream
- Grab a free printable like our animal I Spy Printables, free life cycle of a frog worksheet, fun summer color by number, summer word search printables, free preschool coloring pages pdf, or math summer worksheets for kindergarten
- 25+ Water Balloon Games for Kids, water Balloon Painting Activity, Roll & Paint Balloon Painting, Balloon Paint Art Project, Music Activity for Kids, Epic Ideas for Water Balloon Painting
- Find more summer bucket list ideas including: printable summer bucket list BINGO, Ice Cream summer bucket list activities, and over 100 summer activities for kids,
Color Changing Playdough
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup salt
- 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
- 3 drops glycerin optional
- 3/4 cup HOT water
- 2 tablespoons baby oil (or cooking oil)
- 3-5 teaspoons thermochromic pigment any color
- few drops food coloring any color
Instructions
- Mix oil and food coloring with HOT water. Add water mixture to dry ingredients and mix well. Allow to rest 5 minutes to absorb all the water. can you do different colors this time to make it stand out.
Responses
This was SO COOL!
What a neat project – science + play =)
My preschool class was in awe! I even got emails from the families impressed by this hands-on science activity. Thanks
I think this is the coolest project we’ve done! Thanks for the fabulous idea!
This was so pretty and fun. Thanks so much
My new favorite playdough – so cool!
Seriously, you have the BEST ideas! Everyone is a huge hit with my little learners. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Man, this was so cool! Make sure you pick colors that are dramatically different, but in the same spectrum for the best results. Thanks
Loved this
So glad I tried this. This was really a cool project
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