Fun playdough ideas for kids aged three and upwards

Playdough has so many advantages for toddlers and preschoolers from helping develop fine motor skills, to providing lots of open-ended opportunities for children to experience independent and cooperative play. Best of all, playdough is easy to make and cost-effective!

Here are a few fun playdough crafts to make today with your child.

Before you get started…

Create a play dough station before you begin so that your child has everything he needs at his fingertips. Use a well-cooked, non-sticky homemade playdough. You can find many different recipes on the Internet.

You will need:

• Tray or container
• Small plastic tubs with lids
• Small rolling pin
• Plastic knife
• Coloured ice-cream sticks
• Pipe cleaners
• Decorations like buttons, beads, and sequins
• Playdough

Pounding and squashing

You will need:

• Playdough
• Golf tees
• Toy hammer

Method:

1. Shape the playdough into a thick rectangle.
2. Allow your little one to place the tees in the playdough and then let him hammer them in with the toy hammer.

Fine motor skills development

• Small doll
• Pink play dough
• Sequins
• Beads
• Sparkly gems

Method:

1. Shape the playdough into a mermaid tail and cover the body and legs of the doll.
2. Decorate the body and tail with the decorations.

Coordination skills development

You will need:

• Templates: You can download them for free here.
• Scissors
• Laminating sheets
• Laminator (or take them to your local printer to have them laminated)
• Red play dough

Method:

1. Print and cut out the cards.
2. Laminate each sheet.
3. Help your little one roll the number of apples and make the shape of the number.

A great sensory experience

You will need:

• Whole spices (cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, and bay leaves)
• Rolling pin
• Clean muffin tray
• Playdough
• Cling wrap

Method:

1. Place the play dough and spices in the holder.
2. Roll out the play dough.
3. Let your child feel and smell the spices.
4. Let her press them into the playdough and see what shapes the spices make.