Rainy Day Fun: Play Dough Part 1: Play Materials
Play Dough is great for developing motor skills and strengthening hand muscles (which lends to the development of writing skills, cutting, the use of a variety of tools etc.) It can ignite creativity, imaginary play and social skills (when children are working collaboratively on a project or sharing materials.) Below we suggested a variety of things we have used with playdough at home, in playgroups and in school. We would love to hear any suggestions you may have!
you'll need Materials
- Play dough (you can buy this commercially or make your own- see the Directions section for our favourite recipe)
- Clay boards or laminated placemats
Ideas for Items to Include in your Play:
From Left to Right, Top Row:
- Seasonal items (such as filler eggs, artificial Fall leaves etc. for different holidays)
- Vehicles (perfect for making tracks and imaginary play)
- Craft matchsticks (without the match heads, great for building, making impressions)
- Plastic jewels, glass rocks (great for digging out “treasures”)
- Science related items (such as plastic dinosaur bones that they can excavate)
Second Row Down
- Thematic items (we showed Space for example- with plastic stars, rockets, astronauts etc.)
- Plastic animals/figurines (you could do different groups- Farm, North American Forest, Rain Forest etc.)
- Glitter (we added this to our playdough for a space birthday party- simple and fun!)
- Playdough cutters (Again, you could sort into themes)
- Building blocks (fun for making impressions)
Third Row Down
- Dice (for making impressions)
- Spools and tape rolls (great for making impressions and circle cut-outs)
- Stamps (Your could use those that are images such as vehicles or letters)
- Craft eyes
- Marbles
- Paper clips
Bottom Row
- Construction items (washers, nuts etc.)
- Old keys (for making imprints)
- Rocks (you could use a variety of nature items such as twigs too)
- Sequins
- Craft gems
- Golf pegs (you might want to include plastic hammers)
From Left to Right, Top Row: ( starting with the third item as there was some overlap in the photograph)*
- Clothes pins (just be careful of pinches!)
- Craft feathers
- Caps (from beverage jugs and cartons)
Second Row Down
- Popsicle sticks(great for building)
- Game (bingo) chips
- Chenille sticks
- Toothpicks (great for building, just watch out for pokes)
Third Row Down
- Craft foam (you could use shapes or cut your own- such as a carrot nose for a snow person)
- Scoops (great for imaginary play)
- Straws (good for construction or making 3-D shapes in math)
- Play coins(dig for “treasure” or create imprints)
Bottom Row
- Shells
- Buttons
- Beads
- Wood pieces
- Birthday candles (unlit of course!)
From left to right:
- Cooking and baking utensils (measuring spoons, garlic presses, icing tubes are great fun!)
- Beach toys (molds, shovels etc.)
- Silicon cupcake liners (you could do mini muffin tins, small pie plates etc.)
- Clay tools (you can purchase these at educational and art stores)
- Scissors
- Rolling pins
- Primary clay and playdough tools (bigger for easy gripping for smaller children)
- Candy/chocolate molds
Directions
Play Dough Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 salt
- 3 tbsp cream of tarter
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Food colouring
Directions:
- Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium pan.
- Add water and oil.
- Cook on medium heat.
- Stir continuously.
- When the dough mix pulls away from the sides and forms into a large ball, the dough is ready to be placed in a small bowl to cool.
- Store in a plastic container or re-sealable bag.
Source: Japer Place Child and Family Resource Centre
Safety Notes
- As the included play dough recipe involves a stove, an adult should make it. (An added bonus is that it is an excellent upper arm mini work-out!)
- Many of the suggested items to include in play can be choking hazards and are therefore not recommended for children 0-3 or those who tend to put things in their mouths.
- Encourage your children to wash their hands before playing with the play dough and remember to discard it regularly, making new batches.
- This dough is not designed for consumption.
