Play Dough - play and make

Play dough is so great for kids of every age. It can be made at home much more cheaply than purchasing it, plus you can be so creative with play dough recipes even adding coloring and herbs.

Play dough can be made without cooking. Older kids can make their own with supervision. I think it has mostly taken me no more than ten minutes to make and color so that the kids can dive in and create. You can make a big batch if you like as it will last well in a sealed container in the fridge.

Here you will find out how to make a basic play dough recipe

We love this medium because it lends itself to so much:

Science:  mixing ingredients and watching as they change state and the differences as more water, flour, food coloring and textures are added. Exploring which tools are best for cutting, snipping, rolling, and shaping etc.

You can try these Dough Tools Dough Tools - 5 Piece Set; no. CK-9762

Sensory exploration: the differing smells and textures of the dough make for great learning opportunities.

Maths: measuring ingredients, exploring the weight of ingredients. Shaping numbers from dough, counting dough shapes, counting and adding 5 (or any number) buttons (or other materials)  to the medium

Motor skills: Manipulation of the medium strengthens and develops fine motor skills and helps to develop hand –eye co-ordination

Literacy: talking about the feel, shape, color of dough, the child listening as you give instructions such as “cut the dough into two pieces” and then responding. Making letters from the dough, creating names from the dough etc.

Prints can be made – prints of hands, feet, leaves and anything else that can be pressed into the dough

Kids can be really creative, they can make cup cakes, make models, do pretend baking, they can add materials to it .

Every child seems to enjoy these School Smart Dough Extruders - Assorted Designs - Set of 12 - Assorted Colors though a garlic press works well too

You can find a recipe for cloud dough also know as moon dough here at our cloud dough page

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