Activities to do with play dough: 8 simple invitations

I’m sharing some of the many benefits of play dough in the classroom, as well as 8 super fun and simple play dough activities you can do with your primary students. Some of these activities include dramatic play, fine motor development as well as some diversity play dough ideas!

Activities you can do with play dough

Play dough is literally the best! Not only does it have so many benefits for physical and cognitive development but it’s also so much fun for kids. I remember going to my grandparents house when I was little and making play dough on the stove while wearing an adorable apron. That feeling of digging into the fresh and warm play was so satisfying. One of my favourite things was to use a baking tray and pretend to bake and decorate cookies with it. So fun!

 
images of childen playing with colourful play dough. Text reads: 8 Activities to do with play dough
 


How play dough helps children’s development


Play dough strengthens fine motor skills. Kids need those little muscles in their hands to get nice and strong to be able to hold a pencil properly. Hello Kindergarten readiness! Pressing, rolling and playing with play dough helps to strengthen their muscles and it doesn’t feel like work for the kids because they’re having so much fun.

Play dough helps develop their imaginations. Pretend play is where it’s at for little kids. It’s how they process what’s going on in their real lives and how they practice important skills they’ll need one day when they grow up. They can use the squishy stuff to pretend to cook, garden or even brush teeth. My kids at home have these cute little dentist play doh sets where they mold teeth and put them into a plastic mouth. Now that I’m writing this it sounds creepy, but hey! They have fun with it.

 
images of play dough and a girl building a rainbow out of play dough. Text reads: 8 Play Dough Invitations
 

Play dough can have a calming effect on children. Some years, in my Kindergarten classroom we build “quiet sculpting” into our daily schedule. After recess I’ll put on quiet music and everyone has their own baggie of play dough to sculpt and it definitely helps them to decompress. This quiet time also gives me a chance to solve any problems between kids that happened while they were outside.

There are so many more benefits of play dough that I’ll probably want to write a whole other post on it, but let’s get to the fun stuff! Activities you can do with play dough in your primary classroom.

 
A child's hand is pictured playing with play dough. Text reads: 8 simple ideas for Play dough
 

Play dough activities for Primary School

  • Use spices to mix different skin colour shades

You can probably find a lot of different shades of brown when you look in your spice cupboard. Play around using your favourite play dough recipe and add in different amounts of spice. What colours can you make? See if you and the children can match your skin tones and also make a variety of other skin tones. This is a great way to add a bit of a diversity lesson in your play dough time.


  • Play dough mats

Oh hey it’s time for a shameless plug! I’ve created a bundle of play dough mats that are bilingual in French and English. This is my newest bundle for Spring and it includes play dough task cards for Spring flowers, bugs, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter.

I also have this free set of unicorn play dough mats!

I love play dough mats in the classroom because they help me reinforce new seasonal vocabulary in a hands-on way and they make for a quick and easy centre to put out. Each mat has a traceable word so your student can practice printing as well. 

  • Play dough Flower learning invitation 

This is another one of my favourite Springtime centres. Put play dough, pipe cleaners for stems, dollar store flower petals, glass gems or anything you can think of together in a tray. Let the kids go nuts on building garden flowers. They get to use their creativity here as well! You can put out the Spring flower play dough mats as inspiration or show them real life pictures of flowers.

Your students will also love making these nature crowns or this butterfly leaf craft.


 
A white play dough flower with a blue stem is pictured. Text reads: Easy. How to set up a play dough center
 

  • Practice cutting skills with play dough scissors

In Kindergarten cutting can sometimes be a tricky skill to learn! Play dough makes it more fun (as per usual). Roll up the play dough into a snake shape and have your students cut the snake with scissors. They are specific scissors Play Doh sells but you could use regular scissors as well.

  • Stamp letters and practice writing their name or sight words

Anytime I can turn any centre in a literacy centre I will. Muahahahaha. Put out letter stamps and sight word cards or seasonal vocabulary cards. I have some French Vocabulary cards here and have the kids practice them. For preschoolers or young Kindergarteners you can have them stamp out their names. Check out this post for more fun ways to teach French vocabulary.

  • Take it back to the basics

Practice rolling the dough into a ball, a snake or flattening it with a rolling pin. These basic skills will help strengthen those fine motor skills! ‘Nuff said.

  • Birthday Dramatic play:

Go shawty it’s ya birthday. Kids cannot, and I mean CANNOT resist pretending it’s someone’s birthday. Give them silicone muffin cups, birthday candles and some brightly coloured play dough and call it a day. They’ll be occupied for a while. I just love this mix of creative play, fine motor skills and dramatic play.

  • Build a rainbow

You know I love a diversity and inclusion activity! Give your students a bunch of colours of play dough and ask them to build a rainbow. This can be a Spring activity, St. Patrick’s day activity OR a way to tie Pride Month into your primary classroom. Check out these LGBTQ books for primary students. Alternatively, you can use the spicy skin shades of play dough to make a diversity rainbow! 

Ok that should keep you and your littles busy! Which play dough activity will you try first? Let me know in the comments!

-Breyen


-Breyen



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Fill in the blank: . I love __________ as much as my toddler loves beige carbs. . I swear they would only eat beige carbs if I let them 🤷🏻‍♀️ . What do your kids like to eat? . . . . . #toddlerfood #toddlersnacks #carbsarelife #carbsaregood #mo
Came across this gem of a pic from a year ago. . So much has happened over the past year. I can’t believe it. Now if Maddie was going to draw all over my things she would at least be more sneaky about it 😋 . What were you doing a year ago? . .
This is my go-to kind of art project that is basically foolproof. . 1️⃣Teach a directed drawing and have the kids draw it in pencil 2️⃣Trace over the pencil with a black crayon or pastel 3️⃣Colour it in with watercolor paints . I looks good every ti
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