Play dough activity ideas for toddlers and children

Play dough is a versatile resource for play-based learning and holds a variety of benefits. It is simple to make at home and relatively cheap to buy and is a staple for early years activities. Why is play dough beneficial for children? Aside from the endless possibilities for imaginative play, many early years workers have observed the benefits of sensory play for little ones, and play dough fits this bill perfectly. Many people (including myself) also find squeezing and manipulating the dough quite therapeutic, perfect for a calm activity and very useful in the SEND world as a popular activities amongst children with additional needs. Open ended materials are fantastic but sometimes inspiration is needed, so we've put together a handy list of the best low-prep and educational play dough ideas.

Fine motor skills (small movements we make involving small muscles in our fingers, hands or mouths) are essential for writing, drawing and other detailed activities a child will learn during their education. Shaping play dough is a fantastic way to build these muscles, improve hand-eye coordination in toddlers and help boost fine motor skills ready for holding a pencil. There are many benefits of play dough for children, and a material that adults can enjoy alongside their children is always a win in our eyes, but aside from the usual rolling and moulding, what activities can you do with play dough?

P.S. Number 11 and 12 are our favourites!

1. Rolling and Cutting Shapes

Description: Provide cookie cutters and rolling pins. Let children roll out the play dough and use the cutters to make different shapes. This activity helps with hand-eye coordination and introduces basic geometry.

2. Play Dough Animals

Description: Encourage children to mould play dough into various animal shapes. They can create animals they know or imagine new ones - you can combine this activity with any animal figures they may already have for inspiration! This activity fosters creativity and improves fine motor skills.

3. Play Dough Letters and Numbers

Description: Help children roll play dough into long, thin strips and form letters and numbers. Combine with flashcards, a pen and paper or simply talk about the letter sounds together. This is a great way to reinforce letter and number recognition while developing fine motor control.

4. Pretend Food (play dough ideas)

Description: Children can make pretend food items like fruits, vegetables, and pizzas using play dough, which encourages imaginative play and helps with understanding food types and nutrition. You can set up a small dough café or continue the activity with things like menu writing or design to bring in some other skills across the theme of food!

*ensure child is always supervised and old enough to know this is NOT a taste-safe activity.

5. Textured Play Dough

Description: Add small, safe objects like beads, rice, cereals or sand to the play dough to create different textures. Let children explore these textures, enhancing their sensory experiences. Talk about the look and feel of the play doughs - is it sparkly? Does it feel rough or smooth? Is it lumpy? Does it look grainy or plain?

6. Play Dough Prints

Description: This is a great activity for play dough that is about to expire or needs throwing away. Provide various objects with interesting textures (like leaves, shells, or textured toys) for children to press into the play dough, creating imprints. Paint over the playdough and use your new stamps to add to a picture or collage! This activity promotes sensory exploration and creativity and really focusses on enjoying the process, rather than the result of a piece of art.

7. Play Dough Beading

Description: Make small balls of play dough and thread them onto a piece of string or a pipe cleaner to create play dough beads. This activity improves fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

8. Play Dough Sculptures

Description: Encourage children to create sculptures of anything they like, from simple shapes to more complex figures. This activity stimulates creativity and helps in developing spatial awareness. If you use salt dough, you can bake these sculptures and paint them as a fun project!

9. Play Dough Faces

Description: Provide a base (like a play dough ball or a flat circle) and various accessories (like small buttons, beads, or googly eyes) for children to create faces. This activity helps children understand facial features and expressions.

10. Play Dough Stamping

Description: Use various household items like bottle caps, forks, or toy stamps to make patterns in the play dough. This activity encourages exploration of patterns and textures while enhancing fine motor skills.

11. Match the object

Description: Make several circles or balls of play dough and lay them out. Take various objects that you can imprint into the playdough and stamp their print into a playdough piece. Mix the objects up and encourage your little one to match the object to the correct mark! The objects we used are:

• a key

• a puzzle piece

• a small ball

• a wooden fish

• a toy dinosaur

• a spoon

• a sand mould

This is a fantastic problem solving activity for toddlers and children alike; to up the difficulty simply add more objects or make the prints using only a small part of each object.

12. Order by size

Description: Make various sized balls of play dough and leave on the table or play surface. With your little one, order the balls by size, going from smallest to biggest or vice versa. This will help teach your little one to categorise, use their critical thinking skills and problem solve.

Advanced version: If there are two (or several) balls that are similar in size to one another, grab a set of scales or a ruler and explore the concept of weight or length to decide where the ball should go!

13. DOugh mats

Description: Use printable dough mats or draw your own to bring play dough or modelling clay playtime into a specific theme you might be exploring, such as shapes, the ocean, outer space and so on. The idea is to match up the colours and shapes with your play dough, finding and moulding pieces into a final picture. You can print the dough mats or laminate for repeated use! Get yours FREE here.

We all love play dough, and these activities offer a way to play while reaping a range of developmental benefits, from improving motor skills to fostering creativity and imagination. The simple set ups are engaging and fun for little ones, which in our eyes is the beauty of an open-ended material. Keep your eyes peeled for inspiration for more open-ended play ideas!