Whether you’re on the hunt for easy homemade playdough recipes, or need some play-doh games, activities, sets, and mats to help engage with your child and encourage the development of his or her fine motor skills, this collection of ideas has it all – and more! We’re sharing 27 creative ways we have enjoyed playing with play-doh in our house over the years, and hope our ideas and recommendations offer as much fun to you and your little ones as they have to us!
5 Benefits of Playing with Play-Doh
It’s calming. The act of kneading, rolling, moulding, and cutting play-doh is not only fun, but it can also be extremely beneficial for kids who struggle with anxiety. Manipulating play-doh can be extremely calming, allowing children to open up and talk about things that may be bothering them.
It helps strengthen fine motor skills. Kneading and moulding play-doh is a great way to develop the muscles in our hands that are needed for fine motor tasks like handwriting.
It promotes creativity and imagination. And when kids play with play-doh with their peers, it can help develop their social and emotional skills and promote self-expression.
It’s a great sensory activity. Play-doh is a great tactile and proprioceptive activity for kids, and can be highly beneficial to those who struggle with sensory processing disorder.
It can help develop other skills. Since play-doh is such a calming and fun activity for kids, you can use it to help your child work on other skills, like language, literacy, math, and science. Check out the play-doh games, mats, and sets below for inspiration on how you can incorporate play-doh into your lesson plans and after school activities!
How to Make Playdough: 6 Easy Playdough Recipe Ideas
Easy Homemade Playdough in Under 10 Minutes | Living Well Mom
The ‘in under 10 minutes’ part of this recipe grabbed me. LOL. I love the consistency of the dough this recipe makes, and I’m pleasantly surprised with how long it lasts when stored in a plastic bag. All you need is flour, salt, vegetable oil, food coloring, water, and cream of tartar. This last ingredient threw me as I’d never made homemade playdough prior to trying this recipe, but it seems to be the secret sauce to homemade playdough as many other recipes use it. Who knew?
5-Minute Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe | One Savvy Mom
If your little one has a gluten sensitivity like my daughter, this is a great easy playdough recipe to consider. It’s pretty similar to the recipe above and ite works just as well, but it uses gluten-free flour for allergy safety.
Natural Calming Lavendar Playdough | Natural Beach Living
If you’re the parent of an anxious child, adding a bit of lavender essential oil to your favorite homemade playdough recipe can be extra calming, and I love the idea of adding fresh lavender for added texture.
Edible Hot Chocolate Playdough | 123 Homeschool 4 Me
Making edible playdough can be a fun activity to do with your kids, but be sure to use caution and remind your child that not ALL playdough recipes can be ingested! There are all kinds of edible playdough ideas on Pinterest, and if you and your kids love all things chocolate like me, this one is sure to be a hit!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Playdough | No Time for Flash Cards
Since we’re a gluten-free house, I couldn’t include the recipe above without an allergy-friendly alternative. This recipe is made with Gluten-Free Bisquick and smells AMAZING.
2-Ingredient Playdough | Kids Activities Blog
I feel like I could spend all day sharing brilliant homemade playdough recipes, and since this one uses only TWO ingredients – hair conditioner and corn starch – I simply had to share.
10 Printable Play-Doh Mats that Promote Learning
Quick Tip: Put your printable play-doh mats in plastic sleeve protectors and store them in a 3-ring binder so you can use them over and over again. Alternatively, you can laminate them. We own a Fellowes M5-95 Laminator and I have nothing but good things to say about it.
Alphabet Play-Doh Mats | 123 Homeschool 4 Me
Number Play-Doh Mats | Life Over C’s
Shape Play-Doh Mats | Royal, Baloo
Weather Play-Doh Mats | Primary Theme Park
Monster Math Play-Doh Mats | Pre-Kinders
Clock Play-Doh Mats | This Reading Mama
Summer Play-Doh Mats | Totschooling
Fall Play-Doh Mats | This Reading Mama
Winter Play-Doh Mats | Living Well Mom
Spring Play-Doh Mats | Itsy Bitsy Fun
9 Play-Doh Games and Activities
Play-Doh Subtraction Smash | 123 Homeschool 4 Me
Play-Doh Teeth Math Games | Totschooling
Play-Doh Bugs | Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls
Play-Doh Launch Game | Amazon
Dirt Play-Doh Construction Sensory Play | Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls
Play-Doh Smashed Potatoes Game | Amazon
3-D Play-Doh Faces | The Artful Parent
Eyeball Counting | Imagination Soup
Play-doh Toy Time Race Game | Amazon
8 Play-Doh Sets We Love
Play-Doh Poop Troop Set
Play-Doh Buzz ‘n Cut Fuzzy Pumper Barber Shop
Play-Doh Transformers Robots in Disguise
Play-Doh Perfect Twist Ice Cream Toy
Play-Doh My Little Pony Pinkie Pie Cupcake Party
Play-Doh Kitchen Creations Magical Oven
Play-Doh Noodle Makin Mania Set
Play-Doh Doctor Drill N Fill Playset
As you can see, there are so many fun play-doh games, activities, and learning mats you can enjoy with your kids as they grow, each providing so many benefits. Playing with play-doh is such a great calming activity and I love that it allows children to connect with others while simultaneously developing so many skills. There are heaps of amazing play-doh mats you can download for free, and tons of fabulous play-doh sets you can buy inexpensively on Amazon, but sometimes it’s best to keep things simple. Give your child a few tubs of play-doh and a container of play-doh tools and let their imaginations run wild!
KEEP CALM, AND MOLD ON!
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