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The Open School of Creative Arts

The Open School of Creative Arts
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Even Better Bubble Dough


So, a few months ago we made Bubble Dough. Its fabulous. But this version is even better.... read on! 
I was making some yesterday, and decided to add some cooking oil to it, to see what it did. Well it didnt seem to do a whole lot to start with, except make it sticky, but I kept kneading it in and it started to stop being sticky, and turned into a lovely dough, just like the bubble dough we made before, but the oil made it so soft and even stretchier than before. Here are some pictures so you can see how gorgeous and fun this sensory material is:
Super stretchy...
... and goes all swirly!
 You can see how soft it looks...
...and its not sticky and messy at all! 

Then we added purple glitter, because purple glitter makes everything better.
 You can see here how its very dough like... 
 and totally mouldable, like playdough... 

 The ratios I've found works best is 1 cup of cornflour/cornstarch : half a cup of washing up liquid/dish soap : 2 tsp olive/cooking oil.  However, I also think it's best to add the ingredients slowly, knead well; and if it's too sticky, add more flour, if its too crumbly add more liquid.

 If you have tried this and it doesnt work, try using handsoap or shower gel instead. People have reported issues using Dawn dish soap in particular. 



 I hope you enjoy playing with Bubble Dough, and if you do please come and share your pictures on our facebook page.
You can sign up for the August session of our Connecting Family through Creative Play workshop - pay what you want, and enjoy a month of daily emails with prompts to play and creative connections, a community of like minded parents and guidance from Gina and I - find out more here. 

See more of our play recipes here, and stay connected with us here:

26 comments:

  1. tricia19 June 2013 at 21:35

    So, I'm totally making this for our Little Texans Pampers and HEB Tour to hand out to kids- and I will be sure to give credit to your sweet blog! :)

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  2. Unknown20 June 2013 at 01:33

    I am totally going to try the oil next time. As you saw from my blog post, my bubble dough was not as runny!

    Jessica
    Second Grade Nest

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  3. Unknown20 June 2013 at 13:02

    Oh, Kat. I love your dough inventions! This looks just great!

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  4. wiffle20 June 2013 at 14:51

    ooh, that looks lovely, I am making this for the kids so that I can play with it. lol.

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  5. Katie @ Gift of Curiosity20 June 2013 at 17:18

    Oooh!! We recently tried your bubble dough (haven't posted about it yet though, but hope to soon!) and we really enjoyed it, but now we'll have to try it again with the oil to see how it compares!

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  6. AmandaB21 June 2013 at 15:10

    Does it last longer than one play like playdough? If so, how long? Thinking it would be good in the classroom? :)

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  7. Angleyes7422 June 2013 at 02:34

    The issue with the Dawn dish soap is probably because the Dawn breaks down the oil.... Dawn HATES oil!!!! LOL Looks like fun!

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  8. Mary Catherine24 June 2013 at 15:05

    Love this bubble dough and can't wait to try it out with my kiddo! :) I had to laugh when you made the comment "because purple glitter makes everything better"! I have actually said that before too!

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  9. HilaryS25 June 2013 at 01:25

    We made it today - and added 2 drops of food coloring to make it bubblegum pink. I had to add about 8 Tbsp of soap, perhaps because of the brand of cornstarch or soap. So, you really have to experiment a bit, which was fun for the kids. It still had the consistency of playdoh and wasn't as flow-y or stretchy as it is supposed to be. The kids wanted to use cookie cutters on it, so it was a win-win. I used hand soap since we buy Dawn for the kitchen. I love that my kids hands are so clean after playing with it. I have essential oils (peppermint) that give it a nice scent - I only added a drop or two.

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  10. Kirsten McCulloch26 June 2013 at 07:30

    I tried this today, but using eco store brand dishwashing liquid. It didn't really work. when I'd got to 2 tbsp of oil and maybe 5 tbsp of the dishsoap, and came back here and saw that you said you could try hand soap or shower gel, so I added some hand soap that was just some leftover soap flakes I'd dissolved in water sometime and added to my soap dispenser. Then it finally formed a dough, but it never got stretchy. In fact it's really "short" and breaks into lots of little bits. The kids are still having fun with it, but it's making a horrendous mess (though at least it washes up easily!!).

    I think I'll try again with another brand of dishsoap, in the holidays.

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  11. Ali26 June 2013 at 20:18

    This was a fun recipe! I also had to add a lot more dish soap, and in the end I added about a tablespoon of water, and then it worked very well! One of my kids, who doesn't usually put things in her mouth, took a bite and got a nasty surprise, but both were having lots of fun until then!

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  12. Anonymous28 June 2013 at 10:28

    How long will it last without getting moldy. Can it be stored for use later?

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  13. Allisonbarrier2 July 2013 at 01:21

    What brand of dish soap did you use?

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  14. jennifischer.blogspot.com2 July 2013 at 04:00

    Can't wait to try this. In fact, I think I'll be doing this tomorrow!

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  15. Anonymous15 July 2013 at 16:52

    I tried it with hand soap but couldn't get it runny! It breaks easily... what shall I do ?

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  16. Ness @ One Perfect Day19 July 2013 at 14:23

    This looks amazing! Can't wait to give it a try.

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  17. Senorita Tortuga24 July 2013 at 02:25

    I made this using Coconut Oil and Liquid Baby Shampoo. It smells delicious and is perfect. It took a LONG time to come together, but I'm happy I stuck it out. It's fantastic!

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  18. aklubers25 July 2013 at 17:39

    I also had to add a LOT more wet ingredients in order to get it to come together... is there a trick that I'm missing? Ours never got stretchy like yours, either. I kneaded it for a long while, but it was just making a crumbly mess everywhere... The kids still love it, but like someone else said, it's making an incredible mess. Do you think you could go back and add a few more details for those of us who are having some troubles? I also avoided out Dawn dish soap and opted for liquid hand soap. Thanks.

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  19. My Tales with Two26 July 2013 at 16:28

    Just made this today and LOVED it! Would love to share it and link back to your blog eventually - hope you wouldn't mind!

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  20. Sarah27 July 2013 at 00:24

    We made this today and he LOVED it. It's stretchy if you pull slowly and breaks if you pull fast, so he likes that part. I used baby shampoo and a little of my scented shower gel (to give it an awesome scent) and he is just loving it! It DOES take forever to come together (like 15 minutes kneading it) and I added an extra tablespoon of oil and then enough corn starch so it doesn't stick, but it's pretty awesome (apparently it is also great for the base of a block tower...who knew?) Thank you SO much! My son HATES stuff that is messy, so it can be really hard finding fun things for him that don't freak him out.

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  21. DiscipleLife Resources31 July 2013 at 15:58

    Tried this with fairy liquid and it didn't work. Maybe fairy is too strong. Have added some hand soap and put the crumbly dough in my Kenwood with the dough hook attached.

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  22. Annette31 July 2013 at 18:23

    This worked great for us. We used Palmolive Green Apple and it smelled wonderful! Thank you for the fun!

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  23. Unknown26 August 2013 at 10:13

    we had great fun this weekend making this my 2 year old daughter and 9 year old sister loved playing with this we added food coloring and essences to make it different colors and smells

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  24. Unknown12 September 2013 at 08:20

    ooh, that looks lovely, I am making this for the kids so that I can play with it. - See more at:
    bestkreative

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  25. Jessi6 October 2013 at 21:26

    Do you have an idea of how much corn starch you use to soap? I tried to make it but it was either really sticky or really dry. Looks like a lot of fun!

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