Are you looking for a simple, creative and engaging activity to do with your little ones? Playdough is the answer! It's squishy, colourful and so much fun.
Roll up your sleeves, grab some dough, and let's get started!
Why Playdough?
Before we jump into some activities, let's take a moment to discuss some of the benefits of using playdough. When children play with playdough, they're not just having fun; they're also improving their fine motor skills, boosting their creativity, as well as learning about colours, shapes, and textures.
It's a great way to encourage sensory exploration and also imaginative play too!
Ages and Stages
Although our playdough is safe and non toxic for children of all ages, certain activities may be more suitable for specific age groups. It is safe for children to mouth but I wouldn't reccommend them eating alot of it. The best thing to do if your little one is still mouthing is to put it away and try it again in a week or two.
My eldest has been using playdough since around 18 months no problem but my youngest continued trying to eat it until closer to 2 years old. Every child is different, you know them best to use your judgement on when you think they are ready.
Here's a rough guide for children of different ages and scroll down for some simple play ideas and a free printable!
Ages 1-2: Toddlers in this age group will enjoy squishing, squeezing, and exploring the playdough. Stick to free play and simple activities with only a couple of tools (or none at all)! Make sure to supervise closely.
Ages 2-3: As children develop more dexterity and hand-eye coordination, they can start engaging in activities like making creatures or using tools that require more fine motor skills.
Ages 3-4: Preschoolers can handle more complex activities that involve sorting, counting, and imaginative play. Activities like letter and number fun and DIY playdough pizzas are great options for this age group.
Ages 4+: As children get older they are likely to guide you in what they would like to do, combine and create. Even school aged children will enjoy playdough! Get creative and use it to learn through play by making a sculpture of a favourite character in a book, rolling and counting balls or making letters or spelling words.
Of course, every child develops at their own pace, so feel free to adapt these activities based on your child's interests and abilities. The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the precious moments spent together with your little one!
Best Tools to Get Started
Here's a handy list of essentials to get you started with playdough:
1. Playdough: You can either buy pre-made playdough (we stock both Wild Dough Co and Good Dough Co) or whip up a batch of homemade dough yourself.
Homemade playdough is great if you would like to customize the colours or scents to your liking.
2. Rolling Pin: A small rolling pin is perfect for flattening out the dough and creating smooth surfaces for your little one to work with.
3. Cutters and Stamps: Dig through your kitchen draws to find some cookie cutters or we do also stock a large range of cutters, stamps and mini animals which you could extend on your child's interests with Dinosaurs, Trucks, Sea Animals etc.
4. Plastic Knives and Scissors: Plastic knives, hammer, and other utensils are handy for cutting, slicing, and shaping the dough without any risk of injury. Safety scissors are also great for snipping playdough.
5. Playdough Mats or Surfaces: To contain the mess and make cleanup a breeze, consider using playdough board or a wipeable surface like a silicone mat.
6. Accessories: Get creative with add-ons like these fun hairdressing tools, tactile shells, ice cream accessories, dough play book or anything you have in the cupboard like googly eyes, buttons, pipe cleaners, matchsticks and beads to give your children more opportunity to get creative.
Easy Playdough Activities
Playdough Printable
I have listed a few simple activities to do with playdough and below there is also a link to a PDF printable that I have created that you can print and laminate the pages to give you some prompts for things to create and make whilst playing with your little one.
Download Playdough Printable Here
Roll balls & squash them
Encourage your child to roll balls of playdough in one or two colours. You can then have fun squashing them with a hammer or their hands. Talk about the colours of dough, "can you squash a yellow on" or also numbers "can you squash 2 blue ones?"
Find kitchen items & combine them
Have a dig through the kitchen cupboards with your little one and see what they can find! A potato masher, chopping board, containers, butter knife are some of our favourites to use. This is a great way to make an old activity feel new again.
Roll out snakes & snip them
Encourage your child to roll out the dough into a long snakes. Use some safety scissors to snip it up into little pieces. It's a fun and hands-on way to begin using scissors and develop their fine motor skills.
Combine playdough with loose parts
Grab loose parts such as crystals, mandala pieces or buttons to combine with your playdough. Children will enjoy pushing them into the playdough, making patterns and mandalas, counting and role play such as sprinkles on a cupcake.
Letter and numbers
Roll your playdough out flat and print letters from a puzzle into it and discuss the letter sounds or words they are making. You can also roll out the dough into long snakes and shape them into letters and numbers.
It's a fun way to sneak in some early literacy and numeracy skills while they're having fun molding and shaping the dough.
Animal Footprints
Roll out your dough, grab some of your little ones favourite animals and push their footprints into it. Close your eyes and take turns getting each other to guess which animal footprints are in the dough. You can also disucss the animal sounds and sing songs about them.
And there you have it—six simple and fun activities to enjoy with playdough!
Whether you're shaping, squishing, or sculpting, playing with playdough is a fantastic way to engage your child's senses, spark their imagination, and promote learning and development.
Next time you're in need of a boredom buster or a rainy day activity, just break out the playdough and have fun!