I created my moisturizing play dough for dry winter in partnership with Vaseline®. Vaseline Intensive Care™ Essential Healing Lotion leaves skin deeply moisturized and looking noticeably healthier. #VaselinePartner
Winter in San Diego is not known for being particularly harsh. Okay, I’m originally from New York. San Diego winters are a joke by comparison. However, what most people don’t realize is that we get some crazy temperature swings. You can wake up to 30 degree weather and by noon have a 75 degree day. When the sun sets the temperature drops and parents like me are cranking up the heat to keep our little beach babies warm.
Which is wonderful when you wake up in your flannel sheets feeling toasty. Except for one thing. That awful dryness you can feel from your fingers to your nose to your toes. These days I wake up in the middle of the night and can already feel how dry my hands are before the day even starts.
This past week, three quarters of our family was afflicted by the latest stomach bug circling the neighborhood. Lovely, I know! My laundry doing, hand washing and dish washing increased exponentially. Naturally, worrying about my skin and any other kind of self care fell to the VERY bottom of the list. Okay, it wasn’t even ON the list. ANY list.
By mid-week I was running out of things to do with Blake. We had reached the well enough to play a bit, but not well enough to be at preschool. So I put the little guy to work making some homemade play dough with a twist. Let me tell you, it was probably his favorite hour of the whole week. It was definitely mine.
A couple of weeks prior, I worked on a moisturizing play dough recipe hoping it provide entertainment for the kids and leave us all with the soft skin of seasons past. In the end I realized that not only does it achieve both of these, it also has a wonderful fresh, clean scent to it. The best part? It’s just two ingredients, doesn’t require cooking on a stove and doesn’t use salt like some dough recipes which can wreak havoc on sensitive winter skin.
Here is what you’ll need to make your own moisturizing play dough for dry winter skin:
- Corn starch
- Moisturizing lotion (I used Vaseline® Intensive Care™ Essential Healing Lotion)
You’ll also want a big bowl to mix it in and some tools for your child to shape, cut and play with the finished dough.
I found that one cup of corn starch needs about 8 tbsp or 1/2 cup of Vaseline Essential Healing to create a workable play dough. If you don’t mind a little mess in exchange for entertainment and a science lesson then you can have your child be the play dough mixologist. I simply dumped the cup of corn starch in the bowl and Blake and I took turns adding the lotion a tablespoon at a time and mixing.
This recipe will start out more crumbly than a traditional cream of tartar play dough. The more you knead it and play with it, the more it comes together and acts like a dough. While you’re mixing the dough you’ll feel the effects of deep healing moisturizers that help heal dry skin. The more I mixed, the less neglected my hands felt. As parents we’re epic multi-taskers. So if you can mix play time and a tiny bit of self care, why not?
Blake also couldn’t get enough of the squishy sensory fun as his dough turned from a fluffy snow-like texture to a moldable dough. Before long, Blake had a nice blob of dough to start rolling, cutting and making shapes with. If you feel like your dough is too dry, add more lotion a little bit at a time. I love the larger bottles that come with a pump for moments like this. If your dough gets too wet, simply add a bit more corn starch.
That’s it! You’ve got moisturizing play dough for dry winter skin. An activity for the kids that feels great, smells great and is about as close as you’ll get to a manicure or remotely relaxing while caring for sick kids.
Speaking of caring for kids, I love that every purchase of Vaseline in the U.S. will help support Direct Relief through their buy one to help heal one program. You can find Vaseline Essential Healing at Walmart and other food, drug and mass retailers nationwide.
