This sparkly and shimmering gold playdough is perfect for some pretend play with treasure and jewels!

Shimmering Gold Playdough

We are just starting a unit on Egypt in our homeschooling, and I thought that the younger boys might enjoy making some gold playdough. I googled how to make gold playdough and didn’t find anything that was truly gold colored and metallic and not just yellow. Gresham had purchased a “crafting with gold” set from a book fair this past spring, and it came with a small packet of gold colored mica powder that had just the right shimmer to it. I decided to see if we could find more of that. Amazon to the rescue!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links which means that if you purchase through the links I will earn a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you.

To make this playdough you will need:

About the mica powder: The container is 1 oz. for $9.99, but this amount will make at least 4 batches of playdough. This product is for use in cosmetics, so it’s safe for skin. However, I would not use this playdough with kids who put things in their mouths. The playdough will make hands slightly gold and shiny, but it washes off easily.

We bought our glitter at Walmart and it was half the price of the Amazon link above, but I included the link so you can see what it is.

Confession: I actually HATE glitter. I hate how it feels and how it gets everywhere. We never use glitter. But this extra fine glitter mixed in really well with the playdough!

Mix the dry ingredients, then add the oil and water and stir until well mixed. Heat over medium heat until it forms a dough consistency and pulls away from the pan. I usually use a nonstick skillet to cook mine. It only takes a few minutes.

Let your playdough cool completely.

Shimmering Gold Playdough

Add 6-7 drops of yellow food coloring and mix well. Then add 1 Tablespoon or so of gold mica powder. I didn’t measure – I just used a plastic spoon to scoop some on!

Knead the playdough well to mix in the mica powder. The playdough will feel flaky at first, but it will start to stick together again.

Shimmering Gold Playdough

Then add gold glitter (not sure how much – whatever looks good) and mix well. We used extra fine gold glitter, and I really love how it turned out!

Shimmering gold playdough

I bought some green glass gems for 97 cents at Walmart and also a package of cheap plastic beads. The boys were so impressed with the beads because they look like jewels!

Shimmering Gold Playdough

We made sparkling gold stars:

Shimmering Gold Playdough

And gold bowls to hold treasure:

Shimmering Gold Playdough

I love playdough – so simple and so hands on, and it keeps the boys busy for a long time. This was a great way to add a fun new twist to the playdough experience.

The boys want to make gold salt dough next and bake it into hard items that they can keep. We’ll see how that turns out! Gold Christmas ornaments might be fun!

2 Comments

Post a Comment
  1. Almost Unschoolers Sep 11, 2014

    I like the gold twist you gave the play dough for your Egypt study - perfect go-along!

    Reply
  2. Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life Sep 11, 2014

    What a fun idea! Too bad I just placed an Amazon order last night... I'll pin it for a future day.

    Thanks for sharing :-)

    Reply

Post a Comment