Playdough cake

STREAM Activity: Playdough Cake

We’re Turning 25! That’s a Lot of Playtime!

Activity best for children ages three and up

San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum first opened its doors in 1999 to spark curiosity and imagination in children through the power of science, technology, reading, engineering, art, and math (STREAM), purposeful play, and social-emotional learning (SEL). Over the years, we’ve grown, moved, and added all kinds of awesome new exhibits. But one thing has never changed: our commitment to education, community, and elevating early learning.

This year, we’re turning 25 years old! That’s like building the biggest block tower ever, it takes time, teamwork, and lots of creativity. And what’s a birthday without cake? We’re celebrating by making our very own playdough birthday cake! We’ll walk you through the steps of making your own playdough and decorating your cake just like a real pastry chef!

If you’d like to celebrate our real 25th birthday with us on Saturday, June 21! Click here to learn more about the big event.Thank you for playing, learning, and exploring with us every single day. Here’s to the next 25 years of discovery!

VOCABULARY

  • Imagination: To be able to picture ideas, stories, and images in your mind.

  • Celebrate: To do something fun or special because of a happy event.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

  • What’s one of your favorite memories from visiting the museum?

  • What’s your favorite cake flavor?

MATERIALS

  • 1 ½ cup of lukewarm water

  • Food coloring

  • 2 cups of All Purpose Flour

  • ½ cup of iodized salt

  • 1 tablespoon of canola oil

  • Measuring cups

  • Spoon

  • Bowl

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1

Combine all your dry ingredients (flour and salt) into your bowl.

Mix flour and salt together

STEP 2

Then, slowly add in your wet ingredients (canola oil and lukewarm water).

Add in water and oil

STEP 3

Soon, the dough will start clumping together, and you can even use your hands to get it combined. Afterwards, let the dough sit for 3 – 5 minutes so it can set.

Hand mix the ingredients until it forms a dough

STEP 4

Here comes the fun part: we get to color our dough! You can make it all one color or cut your dough into parts and create different dough colors. Add 2-3 drops of food coloring for best results.

Add food coloring to your dough

STEP 5

Now, it’s time to decorate your cake! We added 25th decorations for our birthday cake, but you can add whatever you would like to yours.

Playdough cake