Playdough is an all-time favourite among children. Playdough activities are a fantastic way for enhancing creativity, motor skills, and even early learning concepts like numbers, letters and colours.
If you are looking for fun things to do at home or educational activities for preschool, keep reading for some creative ideas.
These ten playdough activities for preschoolers are fun and help develop many early childhood skills.
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Playdough Activities For Preschoolers
1. Playdough Shapes
Let your children create a variety of shapes and sculptures using playdough. From circles, squares, and triangles to more advanced shapes. You can use a template like the above to start with.
You can also challenge your kids to recreate everyday objects, helping develop both their fine motor skills and creativity.
Provide items like plastic knives, rolling pins, and cookie cutters to help shape the dough.
You can turn it into a learning game by asking them questions like, “How many circles can you find?” or “Can you make a square and a triangle?”
2. Playdough Letters
Playdough is a great way to make learning letters fun!
Roll the dough into long snakes and use them to trace the shapes of letters. For younger children, start with their name or simple letters, while older kids can practice writing entire words.
You can use a large piece of paper with letters drawn on it to guide them in forming the right shapes.
3. Colour Mixing
This activity is perfect for teaching your child about colour theory in a hands-on way.
Give them two or more colours of playdough and let them experiment with mixing them to create new colours. It’s a fun and visual way to explore colour combinations and is ideal for both younger and older children.
Keep a colour wheel nearby to help kids learn about primary and secondary colours.
Download the free printable template for mixing colours
4. Make Playdough Animals
One of the most fun playdough activities is making animals!
Whether it’s a lion, elephant or a dinosaur, the possibilities are endless. Let your children use the dough to create their favourite animals, giving them the freedom to add small details like eyes, ears and tails.
Use this step by step guide to make playdough animals with your children.
5. Playdough colour Sorting
Colour sorting is another fun activity kids can do with playdough.
This playdough caterpillar activity is easy to set up. You can use popsicle sticks or other colourful toys to match the colours.
6. Playdough Stamp Prints
Picklebums shows how to do a fun and easy playdough stamping activity.
Roll some plain playdough and let children press the stamps into the dough and see what prints they can make.
Use a variety of textured materials to expand the sensory experience.
7. Counting with Playdough
Use playdough to teach early math skills by counting and learning numbers.
Roll out playdough into small balls and ask your child to count them. You can also create playdough numbers and help them learn how to recognise and trace numbers.
8. Imaginative Play with Playdough
Playdough is a fantastic way to do some imaginative play. Set up a little playdough bakery or kitchen and encourage your children to create cupcakes, cookies or pies.
You can even add some toy utensils or play food to make it more interactive. This activity helps children develop role-playing skills and can lead to hours of fun!
Here’s a nice, cute playdough bakery setup by PreKinders.
9. Sensory Exploration
Preschoolers love sensory activities.
Here’s a great way to use old, dried-up playdough in a sensory activity. The setup involves adding water to old playdough, turning it into a slippery, colourful mud.
Using tools like a potato masher, children can mix and squish the playdough, which is great for strengthening their fine motor skills.
It’s a fun and effective way to repurpose old playdough while offering a playful sensory experience.
10. Playdough Puzzles
Create your own simple playdough puzzles.
The activity involves pressing toy animals into playdough.
Children then pair the animal shapes in the dough with the right toy animals. This activity is great for toddlers and preschoolers, helping to build hand strength and improve problem-solving skills.
Benefits of Playdough Activities For Preschoolers
Whether at home or in school, these simple playdough activities offer many chances for learning.
While having a good time, children can improve important skills like fine motor skills, recognising colours, and basic literacy and numeracy skills.
Get some playdough and let your children express their creativity while they pick up new skills and have fun!
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