I have a love/ hate relationship with playdough. Sometimes when my kids ask me to play, I have to try really hard to get my creative hat on. They have all the cute playdough kits, but at my house, pieces get lost and my kids get bored of playing the same way. As an OT, I know that playdough is a staple item for developmental play. It can be used at all ages and for different purposes. So, I try to have it available all the time.
With that being said, I would love to provide you with a free resource I use all the time at home and during my therapy sessions…
Top 12 fun and purposeful ways to use playdough.
- Cookie Cutters– Use a rolling pin to roll playdough flat, then push cookie cutters into playdough. Put playdough pieces on top of, next to, underneath each other.
Cookie Cutter works on fine motor strength, fine motor precision, communication, and sequencing multi-steps
- Rolling Balls- Pinch off small pieces of playdough and roll them into balls (using the palm of your hand and then try with your fingertips). Build the balls into a snowman, ice cream scoops, or play table soccer.
Rolling Balls works on fine motor skills and sensory integration
- Practice Cutting- Roll out long “breadsticks” and practice cutting off pieces for everyone.
Cutting works on bilateral skills (hold the “breadstick” with one hand and cut with the other hand.
- Create shapes, letters of name, alphabet or words- Roll out snakes and turn them into letters
Alphabet/ Shape Dough works on prewriting or writing skills.
- Race tracks and footprints- Roll playdough out flat with rolling pin. Drive favorite cars on top of it to make the wheelprints and have favorite toys walk through it to make footprints.
Dough Tracks works on fine motor and upper body strengthening.
- Hidden Treasures– Hide beads or buttons inside the playdough ball and use fingers to find them. Close eyes for an extra challenge. Take turns so your child has an opportunity to hide them in the playdough ball.
Hidden Treasures works on fine motor skills, stereognosis and social skills.
- Make faces- Create all the parts of a face. Create different faces for different emotions. Talk about the importance of mouth, eyes, eye brows as it relates to reading emotions.
Making Faces works on social emotional skills.
- Introduce knife use– Using a plastic knife, practice cutting with the playdough
Knife Cutting Introduction works on independent living skills.
- Pretend Picnic– Make various food items with playdough and have a pretend picnic. If your child has difficulty creating an item on their own, have them copy a food that you create first. You could make pizza with pizza toppings, sandwiches, cakes or cookies.
Pretend Picnic works on pretend play, imagination and visual copying skills.
- Marble Maze– Roll the playdough into snakes and create a maze on top of a box or cookie sheet. Once you are done, roll the marble through the maze.
Marble Maze works on visual perception skills, fine motor skills, and executive functioning of planning.
- Animal town– Create an imaginary town for a figurine toy or animal. Use popsicle sticks, straws and toothpicks.
Animal Town works on imaginative play, executive functioning of planning and fine motor skills.
- Create your own! Make your own playdough that has unique colors and smells.
Creating your own works on sensory integration and independent living skills of cooking.
So, when your kids ask you to play with playdough, whip out this list and let the fun and learning begin!