10 Benefits of Play Dough

​There are toys that come and go but one toy that has endured the test of time is play dough or molding clay as some may refer to it as.  Chances are, during your child’s early years, they will have played with play dough at home or at school.  I know that at any point in time, my girls will have several pots of it lying around at home.  Truth is, however, play dough is not just child’s play and can be beneficial and enjoyable for all ages.

Whether store-bought or home-made, here are some of the benefits of playing with play dough:

 

​Playing dough is fun and can keep children entertained for extended periods of time, inexpensive to buy or make (recipe provided further down) so no big deal if it gets lost, and completely portable making it suitable for indoor and outdoor play.  Also, even if it gets in clothing, playing dough is fairly easy to get out of clothing.  

 

​Playing with dough is extremely pliable and the motions of squishing, squashing, and rolling some colorful dough can be extremely calming for children and can support them in expressing their emotions.  The action of kneading is also very therapeutic for adults whether you are kneading something for baking or squishing a stress ball.  Whatever the medium, it’s all in the action.

 

​Squishing, rolling, flattening, shaping, and cutting play dough all help children develop the muscles in their hands and prepare them for tasks requiring greater fine motor skills such as using tools, scissors, and holding a pencil.  For older adults, using playing dough may help them maintain their motor skills in a low-pressure environment.  

 

​​Playdough can be played by oneself or in a small group setting with other children or with an adult (parent, grandparent, caregiver, etc).  In a paired or group setting, there are opportunities to talk, discuss, engage collaboratively, plan, and even problem-solving.  Encouraging children to talk while playing with play dough is a great way to build social skills in a low-pressure way, particularly for shyer or less vocal children because they are focused on their hands and not the attention of their peers.

 

​Let’s face it.  There is no wrong way to play with play dough – anything goes.  Children love to create lots of different things with play dough.  Some days, it might just be different-sized balls, other days it might be spaceships, monsters, and aliens, and some other days it may be cakes, pizzas, flowers, and houses.  Provide them with a variety of materials and tools to help spare their creativity and imagination.

Some ideas:
Sticks, buttons, stones, googly eyes, seashells, and different pasta shapes.

​This is K’s creations:

 

​The mind of a child is a powerful thing with limitless potential.  Playdough can be a fun way of nurturing the inquisitive mind for exploration and discovery.  What happens when you mix this color with that?  What happens to the shape of the dough when it is squeezed out of a press?
 
If you are making play dough from scratch, it presents an additional opportunity for discovery.  The child gets to explore and observe how solid materials like flour and liquid come together to form a smooth and squishy ball of dough.  

 

​Eye-hand coordination or hand-eye coordination whichever you prefer is the ability to use visual information to guide the movement of the hand to reach or grab or any other motion at the SAME TIME.  There are a number of ways that hand-eye coordination can be developed such as playing catch, piano in my place, and others.  Play dough can also help through the use of different shapes, tools, and rolling pins. 

 

​(Photo Credit: Pixabay at Pixabay.com)

 

​Yes, I know, it pretends and you can’t exactly go wrong with it but play can provide some foundation for important life skills such as cooking.  The hope is not necessarily to produce an award-winning chef but to find comfort in that your child can fend for themselves and cook basic things. 
 
Playing dough can help children learn how to roll the dough out evenly for making cookies and cutting cookie shapes or preparing a sandwich or making uniform meatballs or more complex tasks like wrapping a ravioli or dumpling.

This is my niece and nephew pretending to make meatballs, cookies, and Chinese dumplings.  The dumplings look like the real thing minus the edible part!

 

​​​Then came the real deal – pretty good I must say!

 

​On the other side of things, for older adults who may no longer be able to do these things due to living situations, loss of ability, safety reasons, or other reasons, using play dough to recreate things may be a way to validate their lives and give a meaningful way to be engaged.  It could also be a powerful way for children to connect with older adults and provide some fun and passing down of knowledge.

 

​Having stamp-out numbers and letter or cookie cutters can help build literacy and numeracy skills.  Children can form letters of the alphabet, spell out their own names, make numbers, make a short sentence depending on reading level, compare lengths/ thicknesses/ weights, count out rolled balls, and match and sort by color as some examples.

​This was a surprise message from my eldest made at Grandma’s house

 

​It is said that experiences that incorporate multiple senses tend to be more vivid and also the ones that we remember.  Perhaps this is why play dough remains a fond memory in many people’s minds and brings out our inner playfulness when we do get to play with it.  There are many colors, the smell – especially if you make your own and get experimental, the texture of the dough squishing in between the fingers, and perhaps, even the taste when some dough somehow ended up in your mouth.

 

​May you always find the knead for play dough ???? 
Julie