Playdough is a glorious resource for learning. Children can engage with it in so many ways; the possibilities are truly endless.
This time we scented our playdough with Lime flavouring (see our favourite recipe), but as it was yellow, we had a little play on words.
Ever thought to use your Mr Potato Head toys to create funny ‘Potat’ough people? It takes the toy to a whole new level of creativity, imagination and complexity. We found our playdough head was a great base for sticking the pieces into and we had lots of space to do so, not limited by drilled holes in plastic like the Mr Potato head has.
But it did present some challenges getting the head to stay upright and on the feet, providing us a wonderful opportunity to practice persistence and foster resilience!
Other resources we tinkered with were spoons, forks and toothpicks! It’s great seeing how creative a child can be when they use their imagination. Having minimal resources available sometimes as a deliberate choice encourages children to consider what is at their immediate disposal, their hands!
Manipulating playdough with their hands is a tried and true fine motor development practice, as children pinch, pull, twist, roll, squish the dough into different creations.
E decided to make a caterpillar from many balls of varying sizes that he pinched and rolled himself. I particularly enjoy the wavy design of the caterpillar, reminiscent of The Very Hungry Caterpillar which he is very familiar with as one of his favourite storybooks. Also note the two and then three antenna, as he decided his caterpillar needed one more.
