Make Pretend Play "Dirt"

Does your child love playing with construction toys too?  If so, today's post is just for you.  It's all about dirt, glorious dirt.  Since it's freezing cold outside (and we live in an urban environment), playing in real dirt just isn't an option for us.  But no worries, I whipped up a batch of Pretend Play "Dirt" and we had a blast playing with it inside. 

Make Pretend Play "Dirt"  

The coolest thing about this recipe is that you only need three common household ingredients to make play "dirt."  (It was inspired by MollyMoo's Leprechaun slime recipe.)  So keep reading to see how you can whip up some play dirt at home too

Making Homemade "Dirt"

 

Materials Needed 

• Mixing bowl
• Big bin or tray  (It should have high sides so the dirt doesn't easily fall out)
• Toys

Ingredients Needed

• Corn starch
• Shaving Cream (I used Barbasol)
• Food Coloring

 

Steps to Make Play "Dirt"

Combine handfuls of corn starch, shaving cream, and food coloring in a bowl until you make brown play "dirt." (Follow the directions on the food coloring box to make the color brown.)  Your homemade "dirt" will feel squishy and goopy at first, but then it will dry up and become more crumbly as you work with it.  Keep adding shaving cream to make it more goopy.

Playing with Pretend "Dirt"

 

Chuck had a blast driving his cars and trucks through the "dirt." 

It was neat to see him engaged in imaginative play. 

The play "dirt" also reminded me of sand, so we brought out our desert toys.

It also had such a neat texture.  

It's crumbly and soft.  But, we could easily compact it to create dirt balls or a firmer surface. 

Cleaning up

Make sure you have a broom on hand to sweep up fallen "dirt."  But besides that, clean up was a breeze because our "dirt" just disintegrated once it hit the water.

Have fun getting dirty!

Interested in other gluten-free sensory play ideas?  

• Make fake snow from diapers
• Make snow dough