Playdough.... you either love it or hate it, right? Did you know there is so many ways your child can play with playdough. By setting up simple trays or materials along side the playdough, can open a world of endless possibilities, benefits and fun. It takes very little time to set up and keep your kiddies engaged, giving you enough time to have a cuppa and even joining in on the fun.
Tinker trays:
What is a tinker tray I hear you ask? It is a tray or a plate that is full of materials that kids can create with. You can direct the play by asking them to build something i.e a snowman or home in on their interests by making a theme ie. Construction. Or just give them random things with the playdough & see what they come up with.
Stem activities:
These are activities were you use playdough and other materials to create things like a structure or a tower. Common materials along with playdough are uncooked spaghetti, tooth picks, lollypop sticks, pipe cleaners, blocks, buttons, stones, straws, cheerios, pasta, beads. This is a great one for the older kids. We love too having competitions to see who's tower is the tallest and can stand the longest.
Making tracks:
Track making is great fun especially for the younger kids. You can make stamps, fossil prints, car tracks, train tracks, animal tracks or even household items and see what track they make.
Using household utensils:
This is my 4 year old's favourite using the potatoe masher and garlic crusher with the playdough. He loves rolling the playdough into a worm and cutting it with the scissors. Great for strengthening those hands muscles.
DIY playdough
See picture for recipe. This is a good activity in itself to do with the kids. You can use cookie cutters and other materials to decorate what ever you make. If you keep it stored in an air tight tuba ware box it will last for ages. If you dont have cream of tartar you can still make the playdough, it still works with out it. The cream of tartar is what gives it that feeling of real playdough.
Cloud dough:
See picture for recipe. This smells so good! Please beware cloud dough is not edible. This is a great one for making snowmen at Christmas time and for older kids.
Benefits of playdough: Helps your child gain strength & improves dexterity in their hands, fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, bilateral coordination, its very calming activity, uses creativity & imagination, promotes independent play, develop cognitive and problem solving skills, supports language and social skills to name but a few. And of course kids love it!
I really do hope after reading this post that if you weren't a fan of playdough that I was able to open your mind to the possibilities of playdough.