Play dough is one of the best toys your child can play with. Aside from encouraging creativity, it also helps develop a lot of fine motor skills as well as sensory exploration. Play dough is perfect for kids of almost any age especially those past the mouthing stage. It is also not too messy and is easy to clean-up, making it a perfect choice for parents who want minimal clean-up after playtime.
There are tons of things you can do with play dough because of its versatile form. Here are some ideas to help you get started on how to have fun with your kids using a play dough.
Rolling It
Flattening or rolling play dough with a rolling pin is one of the most popular things you could do with it. There are even sets that include a rolling pin with it for this reason. After rolling the play dough, you can cut it into different shapes using a cookie cutter. Rolling play dough not only helps develop shoulder and arm muscles but also provides heavy work sensory input. When buying play dough, be sure to choose safe and non-toxic play doh sets Australia.
Poking with Tools
Aside from rolling, you can also use play dough as accessories for other play stuffs. For instance, if you’re having symbolic play such as making cakes or cupcakes, play dough and other stuff can be used as the decorations. You can form it into small shapes and skewer it with a toothpick to create cute cake toppers. You can also make play dough barbecue and other fun things if you like.
Search for Hidden Treasure
If you’re looking for something more exciting, searching for the hidden treasure within a lump of play dough is such a fun activity to try out. Bury some smaller items into a huge lump of play dough – it could be some beads, coins, or any other small stuffs. Then, instruct your child to search for those items in the play dough by digging or squeezing through it.
Cut with Utensils
You could also use play dough for a pretend cooking session with your kids. Since it can easily be moulded into different forms, cutting it into pieces won’t be a hassle to clean up. Form the play dough into a roll and let your child practice some cutting skills on it using some toy utensils and other stuffs. You can even let him use other things that could still cut the dough to encourage his imagination.
Building 3D Structures
If your child is more adept with play dough, you could have fun together by creating 3D things such as animals, buildings, cars, and many more. Use a variety of play dough colours to create more detail in your creations.
Play dough is such a great resource you could use to help your kids develop a variety of skills while at play. Be sure to have this toy in your child’s collection of creative toys.
