Play Dough Activities
Five ways for your pre-schooler to leave fun patterns in their play dough.
BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE
In early childhood, play dough is one of those miracle materials!
It’s easy and cheap to make, and will keep your under-five entertained for ages, while doing incredible things for their fine motor skills, muscle strength, language development, attention span, and of course, creativity.
There’s no end to what your little one can make with a lump of play dough in their grasp.
And although you might like to invest in some special play dough tools, like cutters and stamps, they definitely aren't essential.
Your child will enjoy using their bare hands to pinch, tear, roll and mould their play dough, and there are lots of ways to make fancy patterns in play dough without buying anything new.
So, without further ado, here are five ideas that will get your child’s stamp of approval!
1. Kitchen utensils
If you’ve just cooked the play dough, then you’re perfectly placed to raid the kitchen drawers, and you’ll find that lots of everyday utensils leave really interesting patterns in dough.
A whisk will leave a star shape, a potato masher might make ovals or squares, and a humble fork can be used for dots, lines and cross-hatches, so let your child choose some implements and see what happens!
Photo: Clay Kindergarten
2. Dried pasta
While you’re in the kitchen (or supermarket), have a look for some different pasta shapes.
Tubes, bows, shells and curls all leave great patterns in play dough, and if you draw a face in some rolled out dough with a skewer, your little one can add pasta hair using oodles of noodles!
Photo: @MyGirlsMake
3. DUPLO
DUPLO is stacks of fun for your preschooler, and as a parent you’ll be happy to see it pressed into their play dough, rather than your tender foot!
Depending on their age, your child might like to stamp random DUPLO patterns into some dough, squidge their creation, then repeat; or maybe they'll prefer to take their time building a picture like the one below?
Photo: Artful Parent
4. Flowers, leaves and seed pods
Whether you explore a local park or your own backyard, it’s fun to collect natural items, then press them into play dough.
Your preschooler will be particularly impressed by the delicate pattern a soft leaf leaves when it’s peeled away, but all natural stampers bring their own charm to a lump of play dough!
Photos: No Time for Flash Cards
5. Dinosaur figurines
Dinosaur play is great in the early years, and if your child has a few dino figurines, they can press them into some play dough to make a dino dig, or stomp their toys all over the dough to leave Jurassic tracks.
It’s also fun to set up a dino match activity, where you press dinosaur toys into the dough, set them aside, then challenge your child to find which one goes where.
And if your preschooler is more interested in insects, plastic bugs also leave an eye-catching imprint in play dough, as do Barbie footprints!
Photos: Toddler at Play and Surviving a Teacher’s Salary
And this is just the beginning!
There are so many ways to elevate the play dough experience, and whether you experiment with coloured, scented or textured play dough; print off some activity mats; or treat your preschooler to a Play-Doh Hair Stylin' Salon, there is definitely squidgy fun ahead.
Photo: The Craft at Home Family
