Early Learning Matters Week: Make your own playdough

Youngacademics, 30 Jul 2021

Playdough is a fun, versatile material. Playing with playdough provides numerous benefits to children, as they learn to manipulate it in many ways, and get creative while doing so. It is also a safe, soothing, and satisfying sensory experience.

To make the experience even more exciting, you can also easily collect items from your garden or yard such as sticks, pebbles, and leaves and you can add them to your child’s play.

The Benefits of Playing with Playdough

There are many benefits of children playing with playdough including developing fine motor skills, creativity, vocabulary, literacy, numeracy and much more. Playdough also:

  • Motivates children to explore its sensory qualities

  • Strengthens small fingers, hands and wrists

  • Builds children's imagination as they play with it, creating as they wish

  • Develops self-esteem - no right or wrong way to play

  • Acts as a calming activity, helping children relieve stress through their hands

  • Involves them in making the dough and discussing things like colour and texture, and what happens when liquids are added

How To make Playdough
  • 1/3 cup salt

  • 1 cup boiling water

  • 2/3 tsp cream of tartar (which can be substituted by 2 tablespoons of vinegar)

  • 1 cup flour + 2 teaspoons of flour

  • 1 tablespoon of oil

  • Food colouring and essences (optional)

Dissolve salt in the boiling water. Add in oil, cream of tartar (and food colouring and essences at this point if available). Add in the cup of flour and combine until it has a dough consistency. When cold enough to touch, knead thoroughly to combine.

It's as easy and simple as that! If you've enjoyed making it, share a picture with us on social media and tag #youngacademics

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