Milnrow & Newhey March 2022

Playdough
FUN!
Play dough is a versatile fun resource that can promote
children’s development in all areas of learning. Children of all
ages can benefit from playing with play dough – even babies
although adult supervision is essential. By manipulating the
dough with their fingers children are developing physically by
building up the muscles in their shoulders, arms, hands, and
fingers in preparation for pencil and scissor control when they
are ready. Mathematical language is naturally used whilst
children roll balls of dough.
By adding scents such as real slices of zesty lemon or cocoa
powder to playdough children are not only stimulating more
parts of their brain but having an opportunity to add to the
bank of their ever-growing vocabulary. Vocabulary lemon
could add rind, peel, zest, juicy, segments, citrus, squashy,
fresh, slice, cut, chop, and squeeze. These words are more
likely to be remembered as the experience is using more than
one sense, therefore creating a more robust memory.
Candles, cake tins and cupcake cases allow children to play
with what they know as they will inevitably make birthday
cakes and sing Happy Birthday to you or even bring the
creation to you holding it with outstretched arms eagerly
awaiting you blowing out the candles.
Providing open ended resources encourages creativity! Gone
are the indistinguishable playdough cutter shapes replaced
with regular shapes (square, circle, oblong, triangle) so
children can use these to create anything they want to. Real
photographs can be used to prompt discussion and provide
ideas for patterns and noticing details. This can also be linked
to upcoming events – photos or illustrations become activity
prompts, e.g., a photo of a tiger for the Chinese New Year
or a rabbit for Easter encourages children to make their own
animal from play dough. Children can be creative whilst
developing key artistic skills and learning to follow instructions.
Using natural resources promotes science experiments at the
playdough table as the texture can be altered by for example
rolling with a pinecone, the colour changed by adding bright
yellow dandelion heads.
The effects of squeezing and rolling playdough are very
therapeutic. It’s a fabulous activity to promote children’s
overall well-being by stimulating the touch and smell senses
to relax children as they talk, sing and play.
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Playdough
Recipe
8 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp table salt
60ml warm water
Food colouring
1 tbsp vegetable,
coconut or baby oil
Mix all the ingredients
together and then kneed
on a floured surface.
Top tip: use everyday things
with the playdough such
as a butter knife, egg cups,
a garlic press to see how
creative your child can be.