Play Dough Ideas
What to Keep in the Play Dough Area:
Rolling pins
Plastic knives
Cookie cutters
Scissors
Hand brooms (for cleaning up crumbs)
Creative Play
Play Dough Bakery
Add bowls, spoons, plastic knives, cookie cutters, muffin tins, mini bread loaf pans, small cookie sheets, spatulas, rolling pins, and pots and pans to the play dough area. I also have a George Foreman play dough grill and a baking rack from a real toaster that were donated to me.
Birthday Cakes
Add a cake stand, mini cake pan, small plastic letters, pipe cleaners, birthday candles or pegs, plastic knife, plates, and small silk flowers for decorations to put on the birthday cakes.
Ice Cream Parlor
Add ice cream bowls, spoons, and ice cream scoops to the center. Fold thick brown paper or posterboard into cone shapes. I have a cute set of ice cream bowls with spoons that came from the Dollar Tree. I see them there every year.
Mr. Play Dough Head
Children use Mr. Potato Head parts with the play dough to make play dough people.
Alien Eyes
Mix wiggle eyes into the play dough for children to find.
Construction
Add wooden craft sticks to the play dough for children to construct houses and other buildings.
Barbie Shoes
Children use the Barbie shoes to make footprints in the play dough. They can also use them as shoes for play dough people.
Tire Tracks
Children flatten out the play dough and roll toy cars and trucks on it to make tire tracks.
Pet Food
Provide brown play dough with pet food bowls and a bone cookie cutter. Children can roll the play dough into little balls for pet food. You could also add toy dogs and cats.
Astronauts
Children make planets or the moon with play dough. Add small plastic astronaut figures and rocks for asteroids that children can crash into the planets.
Bug Box
Place Easter grass in the bug boxes. Children make model bugs and put them in the boxes.
Math
Cookie Cutters
Make an outline of each of your cookie cutter shapes on construction paper and cover with clear contact paper or laminate. The way I did this was to dip each cookie cutter into a stamp pad, and stamp it on white construction paper. Children use the cookie cutters to cut out play dough shapes and match them to the shapes on the mat.
The Three Bears
Have children make bears of three sizes and add three sizes of wiggle eyes. Wilson also makes a set of bear cookie cutters of different sizes.
Cookie Math
Write numbers on paper circles and attach them to a cookie sheet with clear contact paper. Children make cookies with play dough, count out the correct amount of chocolate chips (brown beads), and place them on a number on the cookie sheet.
Snake Math
Show children how to roll the play dough to form snakes. Have them form snakes of different lengths to learn the vocabulary: long and short.
Flower Pots
Add plastic or clay flower pots and a variety of silk flowers. Children fill the pots with play dough and stick the flowers into the dough. You can let them free play with them or write numbers on the pots and have children count the correct amount of flowers to put in the pot.
Berries
Add berry colored play dough, green plastic berry baskets, and a melon scoop. Children make berries by rolling the play dough or scooping the play dough with the melon scoop and place them in the berry baskets. You can attach numbers to the baskets for counting.
Containers
Provide lots of sizes and shapes of containers for the children to fill with play dough and experience volume.
Literacy
Alphabet Flags
Print the alphabet flags from Jan Brett’s website and attach them to toothpicks. Have the children press play dough flat and stick the matching alphabet flags in the playdough side-by-side. Children are matching uppercase to lowercase letters.
Alphabet Sounds
Use the Jan Brett alphabet flags to match letters to beginning sounds. Children cut shapes with a variety of cookie cutters, identify the beginning letter, and place the matching alphabet flag in the play dough. For example, if a child makes a bear with a cookie cutter, they would place a “B” flag in the play dough.
Science
Boats
Use clay instead of play dough for this activity. Have children form the clay into boats and float them in a tub of water.
Fossils
Provide small toy dinosaurs for the children to press in the play dough to make fossils.
Leaves
Provide leaf cookie cutters for children to cut out leaf shapes, or provide real leaves for children to make impressions.
Animal Tracks
Place small toy animals in the center for the children to make tracks. You could use any color play dough, or white play dough to make tracks in snow.
Seashell Imprints
Add seashells to the center for children to press into the play dough to make prints.
Impressions
Add buttons, Barbie shoes, shells, toy animals, coins, and other small objects for the children to press into the play dough and make a variety of impressions.
Seasonal
Pumpkins
Provide orange play dough and green pipe cleaners for children to make mini pumpkin models.
Snowmen
Place white play dough in the center and add small beads, buttons, pegs, etc. for making snowmen.
Easter Eggs
Add plastic Easter eggs of different sizes to the play dough area. The kids just enjoy filling the eggs with play dough or making play dough baskets for the eggs.
