Sensory Fun
with Playdough

Playdough is a truly wonderful play based learning tool for children. It can be used as a medium for strengthening fine motor skills and supporting color , letter and number recognition as well as encouraging sensory exploration and investigation.

You can add color or leave it plain, add different tools for children to find new ways of using and introduce other sensory materials including those from nature to take the play in a different direction.

You will find the children remain engaged with the activity for a lot longer and it will provide many opportunities for you to do a little intentional teaching while they are having fun.

Sensory Fun with Playdough

Adding sensory materials to dough allows children to explore and use their senses in different ways.

Is it hard or soft?
How does it feel when you squish and roll the dough?
What else can we add that is hard/soft?
What does it smell like?
Can your fingers find something bumpy and smooth?

Sago (uncooked) added to the playdough was very popular here recently. I have also used dry tapioca which are slightly bigger balls so it provided opportunities for discussion about big and small.

Colored cake decorating balls are quite hard and challenged little fingers to push and poke until they had them where they wanted them. A good workout for those hand and wrist muscles.

And then there is the power of smell. Ruby is a sensory seeker and loves to smell and feel the playdough on her face at times. This batch had a little lemon and eucalyptus essential oils kneaded through it as we were all suffering from colds and blocked noses that week.

When adding scents be very sparing though, you only need a drop or two or you can easily overwhelm sensitive noses and it's not great for those who still like to taste their playdough either!

We have also picked lavender from the garden, crushed it with a mortar and pestle in our outdoor kitchen and then kneaded it through our playdough.  A lovely experience but I gave up trying to find the photos sorry. I really need to sort and store my digital photos a little better obviously….one day.

Intentional Teaching Opportunities

Use playdough as your base to extend upon. There are many ways you can introduce some simple learning concepts while the children are just having fun.

LEARNING ABOUT SHAPES WITH PLAY DOUGH

Play Dough is such a fun learning tool to play with and explore new concepts. With Miss 2 learning about shapes at the moment, …

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These homemade bottle cap stamps are a fun addition to your playdough “boxes”, and even your math or literacy centers. You can use the alphabet for teaching phonics or spelling and the numbers for counting or sums.

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Creating a Coral Reef Habitat

This play was one of our all time favorites! 
Here’s the full making of video.

What you need is dyed pasta, sand play dough, and sand – and some imagination of course! We set out our coral reef toob animals and he spent almost an hour here playing (me too!).

Q loved setting this one up with me pushing the pasta into the sand play dough to make our coral reef.

Using some letter stamps in the dough was fun for all ages but provided different challenges for each developmental stage. Toddlers practiced their pincer grip and picking things up from a pile before trying to push hard enough to imprint on the dough.

ALPHABET PLAY DOUGH

We had so much fun playing with our Alphabet Play Dough!  It is a fun activity to help kids learn their alphabet letters and build up …

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Investigating with Playdough

Making marble playdough is a fun way to introduce mixing colors and cause and effect. Simply make a batch of white playdough, add a little edicol powder dye to a dip in the middle and then fold over once.

Ask the children to start squishing and rolling the dough, the harder they work the more color they will see!

You end up with a lovely marbling effect…by the end of a weeks play it will be a solid color.

Edicol color dyeis quite strong so I like to do this activity on some wooden boards or make sure your surface is covered in vinyl.

You can make different types of dough just by using a few different but common materials….and then encourage the children to experiment and investigate….

Hunting for Playdough Tools at Home

Playdough Tools From The Toy Box

small toy figures and animals

Wooden Puzzle pieces

Lego’s

matchbox cars, trucks and construction vehicles

Cootie & Mr. Potato Head parts

Small doll accessories

plastic food, kitchen items

Dollhouse figures

TOOB Toys

Small Blocks

Peg dolls

Little People or "Chunky" People or animals for under 3

Small playsets

Playdough Tools From The Recycling Bin

empty spools

small containers (yogurt, applesauce, take-out containers, etc)

lids and bottle caps

egg cartons

foam peanuts

plastic cutlery

Explore shapes using different objects to imprint with….Pressing things into playdough is fun for kids to see the impression left behind.

Playdough also makes an easy medium to practice those cutting, slicing and snipping skills. Our crinkle cutters are a favorite as are the scissors. Can you cut some small pieces? What about some big pieces? Can we roll a sausage and use our scissors to snip some pieces?

Loose parts and playdough

Loose parts go together so well with playdough and provide so many opportunities for children to explore role play and use their imaginations. It also gives them the chance to express themselves creatively and make patterns, stories and just plain magical creations that we could never come up with ourselves!

Playdough Tools From The Workshop

putty knives

washer

nuts,

bolts

screwdrivers and other tools

Your Favorite Art Supplies May Inspire You

Playdough Tools From The Art Supply Closet

buttons

marbles

beads

popsicle sticks

googly eyes

pipe cleaners

silk flowers and leaves

scissors

dowels

Pom Poms

stamping tools

sparkly glitter, confetti and sequins

Stencils

Play Dough Creatures and Googly Eyes

Adding googley eyes to the play dough is the perfect invitation to make creatures! Monsters, aliens, animals and strange looking people come to life with a few big googley eyes.

Using nature with playdough

Don't forget to include the wonder of the natural environment sometimes when using playdough. We have used pickings from the vegetable patch, sticks and twigs, leaves, gumnuts, flowers and so much more. It really does make an interesting base material for children to work with.

Playdough Tools From Nature

Pinecones
twigs
pebbles or small rocks shells
leaves
flowers

I bet you want to go and make a fresh batch of playdough right now don't you? Hopefully you are feeling inspired to step outside the playdough rut a little and go have some fun.

Play Dough Fun with Kitchen Utensils

Just rummage through your kitchen cupboards and find all those utensils that may have a crafty future! We got a kick out of using everyday tools in our creative play. But Hope’s craft supplies in the lower cupboards expanded weekly as her interest in spending her days just creating grew. 

pizza cutters

cookie cutters

plastic knives

forks

straws

rolling pins

silicone cupcake liners

small bowls or ramekins

measuring cups and spoons

cupcake pans

pie pans

strainer or colander

garlic press

melon baller

meat tenderizer (tool)

cookie cutters

rolling pins

potato smasher

spatulas

ice cube trays

Pastry brushes and cutters

Play Dough and Printables

If you need really cool but quick and easy play dough activity, check out some of the cool free play dough printables. They are real help for inspiring creativity in their special interest areas.

I created some cool printable space accessories for some space play dough, and a play dough garden, and these under the sea printable play dough accessories I shared at Nurture Store.

Printable play dough mats (also in travel-size) help foster imaginative play. Check out my free printable mermaid play dough mats and Oktoberfest play dough mats as well as the latest designs in the Etsy shop.

Free printable play scenes such as farm, sunken treasure,and camping are easy to pack in busy bags. Add stickers or favorite toys to bring these scenes to life.

There are lots of great play dough mats available too. 

You can find all our free printable playdough mats here –
We have a people set, a garden set, a food set, a bug set and a Christmas set.

My All time favorite playdough Activity

HOW TO MAKE PIRATE TREASURE PLAYDOUGH

Digging for treasure! What could be more exciting than that for little ones? Here is a simple-to-prepare pirate treasure themed playdough activity that will keep your young child interested and busy for hours (while working on their fine-motor skills!)

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 cup flour

• 1/2 cup salt

• 1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar

• 1 Tbsp oil

• 1 cup water

• golden yellow food coloring (Wilton makes a great vibrant one!)

• approximately 1/4 cup gold glitter

• a variety of pretend gems, gold coins, colored glass beads, beaded necklaces, play jewelry, etc.

• a small shovel

• a small treasure chest (optional)

DIRECTIONS FOR TREASURE PLAYDOUGH

To make your golden playdough “sand,” mix together the flour, salt and Cream of Tartar.

Add the oil and water and stir until smooth.

Cook over medium/ low heat until dough looks dry, but is still sticky.

Let it rest for 1 min, then knead in golden yellow food coloring and sparkles.

Flatten out your playdough and place all the “treasure” on top.

Fold the play dough over the gems and place in a special box.

Provide your child with a shovel and tell them you have found a treasure box and wonder what might be buried under the sand!

Alternately, this could be the prize treasure that your child finds at the end of a hunt around the house and yard. If you’d like a hunt with clues appropriate for preschoolers and up – check out our
 Pirate Treasure Hunt with FREE printable clues.

We had a ton of fun following the clues and then digging up our treasure box in the snow at the end.  In the Summer, you could bury the treasure box in a backyard sandbox, or hide it under a bush!

Brandon had so much fun digging and finding all the treasures in this super-soft and sparkly playdough.  He especially enjoyed pulling out the bead necklaces.

He actually worked away at the digging, and then eventually, squeezing, for close to an HOUR!  What a terrific fine-motor workout!

Even after all the treasure had been found, Brandon enjoyed playing by sticking the gems back into the playdough.       

ADD Printable Pirate monkeys or mermaids Playsets         

Mer Island Printables

The Best Salt Dough Ideas for Kids

With these salt dough crafts for kids, your child can explore their imagination while developing fine motor skills and learning about different shapes and textures. Plus, these DIY projects make beautiful keepsakes or gifts. This list has something for every little artist, from adorable handprint crafts to beautiful ornaments.

Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils – Fun Dinosaur STEM for Kids

If you have a little dino fan at home, these salt dough dinosaur fossils are the perfect activity. Not only will they have a blast creating fossils, but they can also enjoy endless STEM activities with these prehistoric treasures.

by Taming Little Monsters

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Salt Dough Layers of the Earth Model

Explore the depths of the Earth with this salt dough craft. Kids can visualize and understand the geological wonders beneath our feet by creating a model of the Earth’s layers.

by Rainy Day Mum

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Salt Dough Family Handprint Keepsake

Gather the family and make a special keepsake with this salt dough family handprint craft. It’s a fun and easy way to create something meaningful together.

by Messy Little Monster

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Salt Dough Hearts

Spread some love with these salt dough hearts. Let your kids join in on the fun of making these adorable conversation hearts that can be used in so many creative ways.

by The Best Ideas for Kids

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Salt Dough Starfish Craft

Bring the ocean to your fingertips with a salt dough starfish craft. Whether in a classroom or at home, explore the wonders of sea stars while getting creative. There is no need for a template—just dive in.

by Little Bins for Little Hands

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Handprint Peacock Salt Dough Craft for Kids

Turn your child’s handprint into a stunning peacock design using salt dough. It’s a fun and engaging activity that results in a beautiful keepsake.

by Easy Peasy and Fun

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“DAD” Salt Dough Picture Frame

Looking for a heartfelt Father’s Day gift idea? Try making this adorable “DAD” salt dough picture frame with the little ones.

by The Soccer Mom Blog

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Salt Dough Star Ornaments

Make your tree shine bright with these homemade salt dough star ornaments. Gather your loved ones and enjoy a creative afternoon of crafting.

by A Crazy Family

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Salt Dough Thumbprint Heart

Create a special keepsake with these adorable salt dough thumbprint hearts. It’s perfect for turning into necklace pendants or key chains for your loved ones.

by Homan At Home

Salt Dough Sea Shell Turtles

Transform ordinary salt dough into charming sea turtles, and bring them to life by adorning their backs with stunning sea shells. Make a splash with this fun and engaging salt dough craft project.

by Red Ted Art

Read more

Sale Dough Donut Craft

Salt dough crafts are great fun. Kids get playdough time, paint, and watch
them bake. Combine these activities to make these cute salt dough donuts.

SUPER EASY PLAYDOUGH STEAM ACTIVITIES
Impact / Force and Physics

(Download a FREE printable version of these activities to share with families & friends)

1. Smash it with your hands.

This action is a great opportunity for pure sensory exploration. Start out with small amounts then increase. This is what I refer to as “making a playdough patch”. They will be able to use this skill almost every time you bring them playdough.        

2. Smash it with a tool. 

Potato smashers work well, and there are so many different kinds.

3. Pull it apart. 

This is a good precursor for learning to tear paper later on.

4. Roll it with your hands.

Don’t expect your toddler to be able to roll a ball with coordinated motions at this age. Instead help them practice simply rolling the play dough back and forth to make an oblong form (snake, worm, hot dog…whatever you want to call it). This can be done between their hands as pictured below, or they can practice rolling it back and forth while the play dough is on the table (using either one or both hands). 

5. Roll it with a tool
-Hands can be placed either directly on top of the rolling pin, or on the outer handles. There are benefits and challenges both to using full-sized rolling pins (as pictured below) as well as kid-sized play dough rolling pins. Don’t have a rolling pin? Use the side of a firm cup to roll instead.

6. Use cookie cutters
-I love using biscuit cutters with handles (as pictured below) for kids at this developmental stage because they are easy to grasp and push down on, but you can also use regular old cookie cutters. Don’t have any cookie cutters lying around? Simply flip over an open cup and show your toddler how to press it down into the play dough to make circles.      

7.  Poke it with your fingers
Fun way to explore while strengthening those index fingers.

8. Poke it with golf tees
Golf tees are great because they’re not sharp and they are just the right size for toddler hands. Don’t have golf tees? Try using straws that have been cut in half instead (thicker straws meant for milkshakes/smoothies might be easier at this stage).

9. Decorate it with baby safe items-

Older toddlers might enjoy hunting for partially (or fully) hidden items such as coins or beads within a lump of play dough. Just be sure you are wise about selecting items you are confident your toddler will not put in their mouth.

 Make fun impressions in the play dough

-Gather some items from around the home and in the yard…leaves, pine cones, sturdy flowers, etc. Encourage your child to press them into the playdough, leaving impressions of the items. Pressing things into playdough is fun for kids to see the impression left behind. We always giggle when we use a household item for crafts. It makes them feel clever.

More playdough activities for
1-5 year olds can be found HERE 

DIY Salt Dough Playdough Stamps

My focus this year is on experiences.  I want my little ones to have as many experiences as possible!  I want them to touch, see, explore, play with and experience as many things as possible.  With a strong base of experiences established, and a healthy dose of curiosity preserved, I know it will help them with all areas of their lives.  For now and the future.  And it is fun.

We have been exploring and playing a lot with textures lately.  We made these textured owls (which were a hoot!).  And we have been playing with salt dough, play dough, and clay almost daily.  I was mentioning to John (okay, I was complaining) that I wish we had some sturdy stamps to use without dough.  Some durable ones that would stand up to time and make some really neat textures in the dough – but anything I could find was very expensive!  The very next day, as we were playing with salt dough I realized a very simple solution.  We could very easily make them!

I made a very simple, incredibly durable, and completely individualized set of salt dough stamps for well under $1. And it was fun!  At rest time I whipped up a batch of salt dough.  

I simply grabbed a small handful of the salt dough, rolled it into a little thick snake, and flattened the ends on the table top.  I opted to make these stamps quite chunky, ideal for my toddlers little hands, and durable too.  Yes, durable seems to be the name of the game with these little boys of mine.

Next, I used a sharp knife and a fork to make different marks, lines, and dots.  Since my little ones are quite enjoying playing with textures that was the focus of these stamps.  I also made a few shape stamps, and a little smiling mouth too.  I tried to make a chicken, but failed miserably.  Of course if you are extra artsy you could do anything!  (And maybe please make me a chicken?)

I made shape stamps in 2 ways.  First of all I carved the shape into the stamp with a sharp knife.  The second way was to make the little shape out of salt dough and stick it to the top of the stamp.  Both work very well, and give very different imprints – again giving my little ones the experience of what shape, outline, and make which imprints in dough.

I then baked them on a very cold, chilly, autumn day in the oven set to 250 for 3 hours.  I made sure they were very dry. And that’s it!  Well, actually of course, that was just the beginning … then we played with the stamps.  My little ones have been playing with depth, texture, improving fine motor skills, practicing patterns, using descriptive words, and experiencing oodles through open play with these little stamps.

A simple, inexpensive way to provide my little ones with some great experiences ~ and all for under $1.  That makes any Mama happy!
 

Recommended

Fun Summer Playdough Activities for Kids!

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Lavender No Cook Homemade Playdough: A Soothing Sensory Play Experience

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Parents and teachers can support creative play by modeling creative actions as well as giving children ideas or directions to make their play more inventive. For example, “Put the horse in the barn and make him eat”, or simply suggest, “the sheep is hungry.” Parents can also provide leads for play and then ask the child “what should we do next?” Toys that promote pretend play include play kitchens, blocks, barn/animal sets, action figures, barbies, and baby dolls.

The best thing an adult can do to support this is to engage with kids- jump in and play along, add more ideas to play or give the child an opportunity to expand the play by making lead in suggestions such as “Now we should….” Toys to promote this type of play are widely available such as ice cream shops, toy kitchens, toy workbenches, grocery stands, vet sets, and costumes.

Easy Play Dough Activities

My kids switch from sandbox play during the summer and outside days to playdough play on cold and rainy days. My students did the same thing so I was always ready with prepped naural items to use. Luckily they uses alot of the same tools...and it gives me time to put them through the dishwasher.

When you bring in sticks and pourous items from nature, try to bake them on 300 degrees for 20  to 45 minutes to take care all the little mites that may have been hiding in them. 

Now that we took care of that I can start sharing ten of our favorite, EASY play dough activities!  These all can be done with things you have in the house already!

Enjoy!

Use puzzle pieces to make imprints in your dough and have your children match them up. 

This can easily be adapted to be more or less challenging, depending on your child’s age.

Create 3-D shapes and epic STEM creations with toothpicks or spaghetti noodles and dough.

Use a movable alphabet or stamps to practice spelling or simply to share a silly message with each other.

Make tracks!  Add animals or small cars and trucks to your dough and make an impression!

Add pantry items to bring your dough to a whole new level. 

Dried beans and pasta are wonderful additions!  Try making your favorite creepy crawlies and decorating them!

Create a twisty-turny maze for your little and then have them design one for you!

See who can make the longest worm in 30 seconds…or 3 minutes. 

Make worms wavy and curled and then have them guess from a line-up which worm is longest. 

Be sure to have a ruler on hand so it can be official!

Making rainbows is always a hit!  Why not try recreating today’s weather? 

Or the different phases of the moon?  Constellations?

Create your very own play dough stamps with corks and wooden shapes!

These are great as you can easily create a new set with every season or theme!

Flip some bowls upside down and create some funny faces or animals!

Most importantly!  Have Fun!

We use fresh playdough mostly, othertime we use our favorite dough from Little Larch.  We love that it is made without the use of synthetic dyes or scents.  They only use

plant-based dyes (like beetroot and turmeric!) and lightly scent their dough with essential oils.  So wonderful!

More playdough activities for
1-5 year olds
can be found HERE 

Playdough
Round Up

Our favorite activities along with a few play dough recipes.

2 Ingredient Play-dough with glitter Recipe (Quick video tutorial)

The Best Play-dough Recipe using Natural Food Dye

SUPER SOFT PLAY DOUGH PLAY

Super soft play dough is a wonderfully textured play dough that will invite children to explore their imaginations and play creatively.  Children can pretend to be …

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7 DISNEY THEMED PLAYDOUGH RECIPES

MUD ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS {A COLLECTION OF MUD PLAY ACTIVITIES

AND ALTERNATIVES TO OUTSIDE DIRT FOR MUD

EASY HAZELNUT COFFEE PLAYDOUGH RECIPE

PUMPKIN SCENTED DOUGH & SENSORY PLAY IDEAS

APPLE SCENTED SENSORY PLAY IDEAS

PLAYDOUGH POTATO HEADS

Cloud Dough Sand Castles

We love finding new sensory play recipe to try and explore at my house. When I came across this Sand Cloud Dough recipe, I knew we had to try it!  My son loves sand… and this looked like fun.  We set out to make a batch and get to playing.

Read More..

Click on Photo for LINK

To make our basic natural play dough we use our no-cook recipe & substitute the cream of tartar for lemon juice.

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour

1 cup of salt

Juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons of oil (we use olive oil)

1-2 cups of boiling water (or natural food dye)

Method:

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add the oil and hot water and mix well with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough is formed.

Give the dough a good knead & it's ready to use.

To add color to our natural play dough we use a range of fruit & vegetable dyes.

Simply add the fruit/vegetables to a pan with one cup of water, & simmer on a medium heat for around 30 minutes. Using a sieve strain the contents of the pan & use 1-2 cups of this hot liquid with the play dough recipe above.

Our natural strawberry play dough was made following the recipe above (using 2tsp of cream of tartar instead of lemon), not only does it have a smooth texture, but it smells like strawberries too!

A batch of homemade play dough recipe would be perfect for this activity, Baby Girl loved this!!  I pulled out a few colors of play dough and a basket of River Rocks.  She got started sorting, picking out her favorites, and pushing them into the play dough.  I showed her how to roll a play dough snake to really work on those fine motor skills.  Rolling a snake from play dough is a great way to strengthen the muscles of the hands. 

I made a play dough snake and pressed rocks along the length.  Baby Girl watched and started making her own.  Pushing the rocks into the play dough is a great fine motor proprioception activity.  This resistive activity really “wakes up” the small muscles in the hands.  What a great way to warm up the hands before a handwriting activity for older kids.  Proprioception activities like this one are a good way to calm and organize your child.  This activity would be a great addition to a Sensory Diet or a Sensory Lifestyle.

Pinching those play dough snakes and pressing the stones into the play dough really works the intrinsic muscles of the hand.  It’s a fun way to practice tripod grasp, too.

We made our snakes into faces, too. I made a play dough face and Baby Girl was able to copy one to make her own.  We talked about all of the parts of the face.  Such a fun way to play and learn!

After she made her playdough face, she made them talk to each other…”hi, how are you…” and had a conversation back and forth.  Language development is fun with play dough!

These cuties were best buds by the time we were done!

Want More Playdough and Nature?

Thematic Playdough Play Combinations

Play-dough Truck Tracks Activity

In "Activities"

Dino Play-dough Match Activity

In "Activities"

Outdoor Play-dough Invitation to Create

SANDY BEACH THEME PLAY DOUGH

Sandy Beach Theme Play Dough added with other beach theme items is the perfect invitation to play for children as it will arouse their …

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INSECT PRINTS IN PLAY DOUGH

Insect Prints in Play Dough is a fun sensory and fine motor activity that children will enjoy making different patterns and fossil-like prints in play …

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PLAY DOUGH DINOSAUR PRINTING

Play Dough Dinosaur Printing:  “Stomp Chomp, Big Roars, Here Come the Dinosaurs!” I absolutely love the name of this book by Kaye Umansky and …

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SPACE THEME PLAY DOUGH ACTIVITY

This Space Theme Play Dough Activity opens the window of opportunity for learning and play in so many ways.  It provides an invitation for …

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PLAY DOUGH AND LOOSE PARTS PLAY

Do your kids like to tinker with little things? Combine this love with some sensory play in our Play Dough and Loose Parts Play.  My kids love to tinker with their little collections of “stuff”. My boys spend hours organizing and re-organising their soccer trading cards and lining up their Lego mini-figures all over the … Read more

More Playdough Activities on our Pinterest Board

Playdough Puppets for
Small World Play

Free Friends Play Dough Printable for Kids

Free Printable Star Wars Pretend Play Set

Free Printable Jungle Scene for Pretend Play

Free Printable Picnic Pretend Play Set

Free Printable Frog Pond Pretend Play Set

Free Solar System Printable for Sensory Play

Free Easter Play Dough Printable for Pretend Play

Free Printable Firefighter Play Dough Set

Free Printable Ice Skating Play Dough Set

Free Princess Printable Set for Sensory Play

Free Printable Five Little Ducks Play Dough Activity

• Free Printable Apple Orchard Play Dough Set

Creating Simple Playdough Sets

I have so much fun finding toys that spark their imagination with playdough. There are so many ways to incorporate language skills as you create and play with your little one.

The dough can be divided into small portions and wrapped in plastic wrap, or placed in an airtight container, and added to your Play Dough Kit! The dough can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of months!

CREATING PLAY DOUGH KITS

To amp up the coolness factor of the play dough, you can make a fun Play Dough kit. This is perfect for birthday party favors because you can customize it for different themes. You will want to include items such as a mini rolling pin and cookie cutters at the minimum. Other accessories are a fun addition to enhance the play and you may even have them already in your craft stash.

When packaging the kits, I wanted to have the top clear and decided to use dessert boxes. They come in a large range of sizes and shapes, so I bought a multi-pack on Amazon to use in the future as well!

Colorful items like pom-poms, shaped beads, pipe cleaner pieces, faux gems or paper straw segments add to the open-ended play and can be used to make faces, patterns and are just fun!

Items that can be used to create scenery such as small rocks, glass pebbles, shells, small trees, branch pieces or rattan spheres are perfect for pretend play with small animal figures or people figures. As a semi-retired floral designer, I have quite a collection of these items and they are some of my favorites to offer for play dough accessories!

Ranch Playdough Kit

Since my daughter is OBSESSED with pretend play, I like to include a small character for her to use to create stories or that will lead to an adventure. For the two kits I put together I went to the Dollar Tree to see what was available and found there were a ton of options! They had a variety of small animals for the farm, dinosaurs, horses, sea creatures, fairies and a variety of people! Each bag came with 10 figures so you can make multiple kits with each bag. Amazon also has a huge variety of options that you could use for ANY theme you are looking for. 

Pond Life Kit

If you are worried about the size of a small toy, consider bath toys! I found adorable rubber duckies and frogs in a 3 pack are the Dollar Tree as well.

CHRISTMAS PLAY DOUGH KITS

My daughter LOVES to give gifts. This year she will be giving her friends a Christmas themed play dough kit! I bought a collection of metal Christmas Cookie cutters that had a variety of shapes so I decided to tailor each kit to the cookie cutters. Some ideas for Christmas themed accessories are small bottle brush trees, bells, shaped beads, pom-poms, glitter pipe cleaner pieces, small plastic ornaments, pieces of beaded garland and artificial flowers.

PERFECT FOR ANY CELEBRATION

From Christmas to Hanukkah, and from Valentine’s Day to 4th of July ~ these custom Play Dough kits will be the hit of any party you and your little one attends!
Easily personalize to fit the holiday or theme by the color of dough, cookie cutters, and embellishments you include!

Christmas Set 2

PINK PRINCESS PLAYDOUGH KIT

I made a batch of sparkly pink playdough(one could make any color). To make it sparkly, I added some fine glitter after let it cool down. I bought a miniature plastic princess set. This was added to a clear plastic container and wrapped up with a pretty ribbon and princess gift tag. A princess storybook(not pictured) was also added to the gift bag.

A pretty playdough gift for a little princess!

BLUE OCEAN PLAYDOUGH KIT

This kit’s playdough was colored a sea green/ turquoise. I also added fine glitter to make it shiny. In the other container I added ocean toys, some rocks, shells and cookie cutters. I also added a mini roller pin to this set together with an ocean themed book. This was all bundled together with a pretty ribbon and the roller pin on top.

A fun ocean themed playdough gift for a boy or girl!

Farm Kit

The kids loved the farm animals best, and they are really cheap if you don’t already have a set. Find them at most toy stores, and even in some party stores.  Below are the different things my kids did with them (I didn’t prompt or guide them; they just did their own thing). 

Main Materials

• Leaves

• Twigs

• Green/Brown Play Dough

• Pebbles

• Farm Animal Figurines orprintable farm animals

Construction Kit

An easy one to throw together. Just look around the backyard for most of the materials. Complete the playset with these printable Traffic and Road Signs

Main Materials

• Brown play dough (to make brown play dough, I used red, yellow and blue coloring)

• Rocks/pebbles

• Twigs

• Small vehicles

More Kit Ideas

• Horses: brown play dough, twigs, horse figurines, milk bottle lid trough, stones

• Dinosaurs: brown play dough, stones/rocks, twigs, leaves, dinosaur figurines

• Ocean: blue play dough, shells, rocks, sea figurines

• Sparkly: put glitter into the play dough when you make it, sequence, small dolls (you can even make dresses for Barbie or other dolls using play dough), buttons, gems

• African animals: Green play dough, leaves, twigs, stones, African themed animal figurines

• Australian: red/brown/green play dough, leaves, kangaroo/koala figurines, stones

• Reptile: green/brown play dough, snake/croc/lizard figurines, rocks, twigs

THEME PLAYDOUGH KITS WITH PRINTABLES

POND PLAY PRINTABLE

Spring is here and what better way to celebrate than with Pond Play Dough! This adorable frogs on a lily pad printable craft will keep your preschooler or kindergartner engaged for hours! The frog and lily pad pictures include tadpoles and frogs, as well as elements of a perfect little froggy habitat.

Materials needed for the Free Frog Pond Play Dough Set:

Paper and/or cardstock

Laminating Pouches or Clear Contact Paper

A Laminator

Just print on card stock and laminate for durability. If you don’t have a laminator, clear contact paper is heavy duty and amazing. You can also opt to just print and play until those frogs wear out. If you’re into saving that colored ink, print in black and white on colored construction paper.

It’s absolutely no secret that we love playdough in this house! It is the one thing that we play with almost every day. I love incorporating play dough into the lessons we are learning in school or other things that we are talking about. This week we’re learning about frogs and their habitat, so I decided to make a frog pond printable play dough set to share with you.

You can add a 3-D element to the set by cutting a slit in the lily pads and placing the very bottom of the frog through it. Fold over the bottom section of the frog and tape it to the lily pad.Now you have a frog sitting on a green lily pad.

We also added short skewers to the backs of the flies and dragonflies to help them “fly.” It’s lots of fun to have the frogs hop to catch their food. You can make it educational by talking about food chains and webs. Or just keep it all fun!

We talked about the different elements of the frog’s habitat while placing the lily pads and cattails around the pond. The set includes both tadpoles and full-grown frogs, which lends itself nicely to a discussion about the frog life cycle.

Benefits of Interactive Play

Hauling out the play dough can be cringe-worthy when we think about the mess it often creates (carpet + play dough = one giant headache). HOWEVER, the benefits of this type of interactive play and learning far outweigh those pesky little dropped pieces.

Get out the tarp or tablecloth as needed, or better yet take this project outside if possible. Then, roll up your sleeves for some amazing hands-on learning while playing with play dough.

Children gain dexterity and motor skills in playdough activities as they shape, flatten, roll, poke and who-knows-what-else with the play dough! Conversations while creating develop language skills as well as the specialized vocabulary associated with the Frog Theme. The preschool life cycle of a frog printable encourages creativity, problem solving, visual discrimination, fine motor development, and so much more!

The best part is that it’s wrapped up in a little package of…PLAY! Your young learner won’t see this as “School Work,” but an opportunity to have some fun.

Extension Activities

Play dough activities can also be used as a springboard for other learning within the same theme.

MORE CREATIVE PLAYDOUGH KITS WITH FREE PRINTABLES

Ocean Playdough – Free Printable Accessories

Dinosaurs Garden Small World

Printable Playdough Garden

Super Cool Space Play Dough Activity.

Space Crazy Play Dough Accessories

Lots of space characters and accessories to add to play dough or small world play.

Picklebums Playdough Playmats

To make your own printable imaginative play mats, click on the links below to download each design and print them on every day printer paper.

You can download the sea, sand and forest play mat here.

You can download the garden path play mat here.

 Huge List of Printable Playdough Mats:

People, Food, Gardening, Bugs, Minions, Pirates, Monsters

I set the playdough up with some road signs (printed from clipart images and taped to cut straws), small pieces of yellow pipe cleaner, floral rocks, and of course, matchbox cars. 
Complete the playset with these Traffic and Road Signs

Life over C’s -
Printable Playdough
Play Sets

To prepare the set, print, laminate and cut out the kids. Then you can use play dough as a base to help the kids stay upright for playing.

Friends

Solar System

Orchard

Jungle

Princess

Shapes

Viking or Easter

Valentines

Christmas 

Ducks 

Farm

Picnic 

Star Wars

Thanksgiving

Ice Skating

Buying Guide for Playdoh Toys

Seasonal playdough activities  
       
 Winter

 Spring

 Summer

 Autumn

Now that you’ve made, rolled, squished or cut it, you may be wondering what else there is to do with your play dough.

Fear not, we’re bringing the excitement back to dough! These fun activities and recipe tweaks should keep your little ones occupied.

More playdough activities for
1-5 year olds can be found HERE 

Playdough And Toddlers

With so many fragrances available, colors and tones, shapes and textures, flavors and loose media, playing with dough becomes a hugely valuable resource that can fulfill many learning and health needs of individuals across the ages. The activity ideas found in this section all focus on how dough can be used to invite play and tantalize the senses while learning is gained and shared.

When smelling, seeing, hearing, touching. playing and understanding, our senses like to tingle!

JELLY PLAY DOUGH CRITTERS

Recently I shared a recipe for Jelly Play Dough; this is what we did with it!  We created some funny Jelly Play Dough Critters, …

Read More »

MINTY CANDY CANE SCENTED PLAY DOUGH ORNAMENTS

Making Minty Candy Cane Scented Play Dough Ornaments is an open-ended opportunity to play in an unstructured way, allowing children to explore their creativity and …

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Playdough Bugs,By Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls. How much fun is this playdough activity? Little ones can create creepy crawlies of every shape and size (and color!)

This monster play doughinvitation to play has been our most played with activity in our house today. Even the older sister has joined in with this one, making it a great multi-age activity.

Kids Craft Activity- Playdough MiniBeasts!

We’ve been creating MiniBeasts today with playdough and various collage materials (see our post on the benefits of collages here).  This activity is fantastic for fine motor skills, creativity, imaginative skills and also learning about insects. It’s also easy and great for a range of ages and abilities. […]

FIREWORKS CELEBRATION PLAY DOUGH ACTIVITY

Fireworks Celebration Play Dough Activity is a super fun, colorful, sparkly and textured play dough. The addition of tinsel to the recipe was to …

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GLOW IN THE DARK PLAYDOUGH RECIPE

This glow in the dark playdough recipe is guaranteed to make playtime exciting! And the best part is that you only need to add ONE simple ingredient to our super squishy playdough recipe to make the magic happen. Whip up your batch below and then continue the squishy,...

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Encouraging Small World Play with Play Dough

Playdough small worlds combine sensory play with imaginative, themed setups using dough as a base, enhanced by miniature figures, natural materials, and tools. Popular themes include farms, oceans, forests, or arctic landscapes, encouraging fine motor skills, creativity, and sensory exploration. 

Popular themes include farms, oceans, space, and forests, designed to boost fine motor skills and creativity, often set up in trays for easy cleanup.

Play dough small world play combines sensory input with imaginative storytelling, using play dough as a versatile base (land, water, or structures) for figurines and loose parts. Common themes include farms, construction sites, oceans, or snowy scenes, enhancing fine motor skills, language development, and creativity in children. 

Key Components & Themes

Base Materials: Use green dough for grass, blue for water, brown for dirt, or white for snow. 

Small World Themes: 

• Construction Site: Black/grey dough, toy dump trucks, rocks, and pebbles The Imagination Tree.

• Farmyard: Green/brown dough, small animal figures, plastic fences, and hay The OT Toolbox.

• Dinosaur World: Green/brown dough, dinosaur figures, leaves, and sticks My Bored Toddler.

• Ocean/Rocky Shore: Blue dough, sea creatures, shells, and glass gems Buggy and Buddy.

• Winter Wonderland: White dough, glitter, and polar animal figures Instagram.

• Loose Parts: Add twigs, dried pasta, beads, buttons, or small stones to encourage creativity The OT Toolbox. 

Setting Up the Play

• Trays/Tables: Use baking trays, wooden boards, or plastic tubs to contain the mess.

• Activity: Encourage children to make footprints with animals, build mountains, or dig rivers in the dough.

Enhance:

Use tools like rollers, dough scissors, and cookie cutters to add texture and shape to the scene

I mixed a large batch of homemade play dough. Added a couple of drops of food coloring a drop of two of essence to give it a wonderful smell and lots and lots of glitter. I gave the girls lots of sparkly pretty decorations to finish off their dresses and that was it. As you can see from the picture above they couldn’t wait to get started. READ MORE

Princess Playdough            

Elsa Playdough

Pasta and Playdough Creations

Play Car Games {Free Printables for Play Dough City}

Welcome to our Cars and Vehicles adventure! In this post, you will see which books we used in our play time as inspiration to create a play dough city for our cars and vehicles. Complete the playset with these Traffic and Road Signs

Create An “Invitation To Create” a Mini World With Playdough
One of my all-time favorite ways to play with playdough is to set up a playdough invitation to play.

WHAT IS A PLAYDOUGH INVITATION TO CREATE?

An invitation to play with playdough is any set-up where playdough is the main sensory tool. It’s is set-up with a variety of items and toys that can be used with the playdough to create an inviting learning and creative experience. Provide your kids with a playdough invitation to play to encourage them to explore different materials for open-ended creative opportunities. 
You can easily create playdough trays or playdough kits for every theme, holiday, or season.

Farm Play Dough Kits

Dinosaur Play Dough Kits

Space Play Dough Kits

CONSTRUCTION SITE PLAY DOUGH INVITATION

Star Wars Tatooine Desert Sensory Bin

Star Wars Micro Machines – Here are links to the Star Wars micro machines on Amazon. There are several sets available. They are small plastic toys, and most of them do not have moving parts. They boys love collecting them, and they are perfect for taking along when you need the kids to be entertained somewhere!

The Force Awakens Galactic Showdown

Revenge of the Sith Droid Army Ambush

The Force Awakens Desert Invasion

What better way to celebrate Star Wars Day than with a fun Tatooine Desert Sensory Bin!  Today is May the 4th or Star Wars day.  May the 4th or may the force, lol.  Just love the play on words.  As the boy of 3 boys we have no shortage

Read More..

City Play Dough Activity: Plus Free Printable Accessories

There are tall city buildings, cars driving along the road, and a train zooming by! This city play dough activity is easy to set up, and lots of fun for any kids who are keen on cars, trains, and the busy city. This city play dough activity is easy to set up and so much […]

Space Playdough Set

Ocean Playdough Set

INVITATION TO PLAY WITH FAIRY PLAY DOUGH!

HOW TO MAKE PLAY DOUGH WANDS

Credit: Suzie Attaway

Every fairy princess needs a wand and what better to make it from than play dough? That way you can reshape it and remake it any way you like, to go with every outfit, of course.

You will need

Play dough

Pink glitter

Rolling pin

Star biscuit

cutter

Striped paper straws

Sequins

gemstones

How to make

Step one
Make some pink play dough following the basic play dough recipe. Add some pink glitter, and knead the dough well to make sure it’s evenly covered and beautifully sparkly.

Step two

Roll out the play dough with a rolling pin to about ½ cm thick. Cut out 2 star shapes with the biscuit cutter. You could cut these shapes with a butter knife if you don’t have a cutter.

Step three
Lastly, take a striped (or any other kind!) straw and lay between the 2 play dough stars, then gently press and mold together until they stick. Decorate with sequins or gemstones. All that’s left to do now is to make your wish.

Turn play dough into a galaxy!

Credit: Suzie Attaway

Little explorers will love this simple way to learn about the stars. Great if your trying to keep kids entertained at home, to keep them out of trouble for a little while whilst still teaching them.

You will need

Black, red, blue, orange, yellow, turquoise,
green and brown play dough

Silver, purple and blue glitter

A3 black card

White chalk

Silver stars

How to make

Step one
Make some play dough following the basic play dough recipe. Add colorings of your choice.

Step two

Then add some silver, purple and blue glitter to the black play dough and knead well to evenly distribute the coloring and glitter.

Step three

Next mould the play dough into different planets, e.g blue and green for earth, yellow for the sun, red for mars, and so on. This is a great opportunity to talk a little bit about space and all the different planets. Kids are usually fascinated by all the differences between them and will be keen to learn.

Step four
Take an A3 sheet of black card and draw rings with white chalk to create a solar system play mat. Decorate with silver stars. And you’re done!

Transform toy play with play dough

Credit: Suzie Attaway

We love giving old toys a new lease of life and play dough is a simple solution to making pre-loved play things appealing again. Your little one will love seeing how wacky an outfit they can give that old Lego man.

You will need

• Red, blue and turquoise play dough

• Plastic figures

• Paper clips, metal nuts, straws, spaghetti, small shells and gem stones to decorate

How to make

Step one
Make up some balls of red, blue and turquoise play dough following the basic play dough recipe.

Step two

For the mermaids, simply mould some turquoise play dough around the doll’s bodies, and decorate with small shells and gem stones.

Step three
For the robots, mould small balls of red and blue play dough into heads, bodies, hands and feet, and connect together with straws or spaghetti. Then decorate with metal nuts and paperclips.

Squash it into some stress balls (which you can use later!)

Credit: Suzie Attaway

Sometimes there’s a need for a de-stressing moment when crafting with kids, because they sure are good at getting that glitter everywhere.

Somehow our kids’ crafting never seems to look like those ones you see on Pinterest. There’s definitely a lot more mess involved. We’ve found the best way to combat the strain of this is to make a stress ball during one of their creative sessions. A wonderful calming activity for kids and parents alike.

You will need

• Natural play dough

• Bright balloons

• Colorful wine

• Black marker pen

How to make

Step one
Make a batch of natural play dough following the basic play dough recipe without adding any food coloring.

Step two
Roll the play dough into thin sausage shapes.

Step three

Take a balloon and pop some play dough inside.

Step four
Continue filling the balloon, then tie a knot at the neck. Cut a length of twine and tie onto the balloon to look like it’s string, waving in the wind.

Step five
Draw a funny face on the balloon with a black marker pen. Why not have a competition to see who can come up with the silliest face?

Step six
Now all that’s left to do is to de-stress… You might have to wrestle them off the kids first though. In fact, we wouldn’t tell if you skipped the ‘making with kids’ part and just had a go at these yourself. They’re oddly therapeutic!

Make a wild jungle for toy animals to roam in

Credit: Suzie Attaway

Play dough makes a great mat for all kind of scenarios. This jungle one is perfect for toy animals but you could make one that features street and gardens to use toy cars on – their imagination is the limit.

You will need

• Green play dough

• Tender stem brocolli

• Leaves

• Small stones

• Plastic animals

How to make

Step one
Make a batch of green play dough following the basic play dough recipe and using lots of green gel food coloring. Make sure to give it a good knead so the color is nice and evenly distributed. Although, for a textured finish you can make the coloring less uniform, giving a more marbled look.

Step two
Help your child create a jungle scene using tenderstem broccoli for trees, leaves and stones. Then let their toy animals roam freely on new found plains…

   Creative
Play

Where one's unique inspirations become
beautiful creations.

For little ones, creative play is about imagining, creating and playing. Luckily exploring and having fun are what they do best. 

One has to remember that everything is new to a baby. So, they do not know what to do with a farm play set unless they have had adventure on a farm or we have created a way to explore farm pictures, toys, stories, tv shows or movies. It is the same with art.It is so fun when you can see something that fuels their interest and imagination.

There’s no right and wrong in how toddlers explore, create and respond to the exciting sensory “stimuli” that is set before them. I have found that it is best to start with familiar themes, like pets. Music, transportation, animals, weather, and nature are a part of every child’s world.

I remember trying to find things that calmed Hopeso she could focus on playing with her dad. Music, car rides, fresh air, massage, gentle and loving touches were musts for her. Swaddling her or holding her close really comforted her. Every child is different and unique, so this is not a science. It's more of a desire to build a positive relationship and a trust that we are there to comfort them.

Then you focus on finding things that interest them or make them giggly and cuddly. While you do that, you will also find what doesn’t interest them or what they have a negative reaction to. It’s all part of the process. Bright colors and lights, things with soft textures, gentle breezes and sounds, silly sounds, singing a melody, cuddling. …They are all sensory events that they might enjoy or dislike exploring their world through. Say they hate being cold, then you would want to make sure they are warm when you want to play with them. It’s a part of everyday life to want to make your child happy and wanting to interact and explore their world.

As they grow you will combine all that information to spark imaginations by inspiring fun, creative play. But first you need to know that you need time to just focus on them. You will need to turn off things that detract you and get down to their level and just play with them. Get to know what makes them happy and what they enjoy. You can feel out their interests in things that you like to do so you have common ground. Note what they have a pattern of reacting negatively to as well. Write them down if you need to.

Small world play in the early years is a style of imaginative play which uses toys or props. It encourages children to use these small props and their imaginations to create simple or detailed playful worlds. They can use a range of materials and tools to inspire their play, including toys you can make together.

Small world play in the early years should be interesting, engaging, and help children to develop and thrive through play. It can be used as a great vehicle for learning, particularly where children have more specific interests. 

If you’ve ever watched a child play, you’ll see that they work to explore things with all of their senses, which is why toddlers frequently put things in their mouth or will rip off their socks and shoes to jump into a sand pit or splash in a puddle of water. They will naturally seek to do this important work.

I often have parents ask me “what is my child supposed to do with this play set or kit?” Or “how does this kit work?” And I always find myself saying something along the lines of, “That’s totally up to your kiddo” or “your child will use it however they need it!” That right there, is the magic of open ended, sensory play! Each child will use the creative play kit in a different way that naturally fills their need for sensory output and creativity! 

There is no right or wrong way to use sensory bins, small worlds, play dough or felt kits… Some kids will build elaborate play scenes and role play with the figurines! Adults saying something like “Ahoy, matey! I’m coming for your treasure!” gives encouragement that you are all in on your playtime with them. It will thrill them. This type of play encourages imaginative language development and social interaction! How sweet it is to watch their little imaginations come to life through their commentary! It’s amazing when their little eyes are alert and excited, engrossed in an activity that’s engaging their minds instead of dazed over by a screen! What a reward just for giving them your full attention for a little bit of your day.

That is just one of the reasons why I love developing creative play kits! They're using their brains all the time while they play, and this supports their brain development as they form new neural pathways. As children play and imagine things, their brains are firing off all sorts of signals. The more they imagine, their brains will develop to help these signals travel faster and more easily.

Reasons to love Small World Play

~Small World Play is about creating an artistic scene that a child can play with using stimulating sensory rich materials, miniature figurines and other small accessories. Miniature worlds are fascinating and wondrous for young children! They get to be masters of these little environments and explore beautiful materials that transport them to mysterious and amazing lands away from home. 

~Small World Play encourages imagination, investment, and creativity, while providing so many avenues for conversation and knowledge building about people, places, animals, and more!

~Engaging in small world play is so important for children. Not only does it nurture their imagination, it also enables them to explore new materials, act out scenarios from real life, build language, practice social skills and gain an understanding of the world around them. 

~Adding sensory elements, like the use of moss or natural treasures found around the garden, can also enhance, and provide a child with a richer play experience too.  

~Small world play is a great way to spark children’s imagination, creativity, storytelling and language skills.

~Small worlds can be designed specifically to promote and support children’s active exploration of their interests. So, they should be individualized and uniquely for the way they play. Children can experience in imaginary situation and explore and  

~Miniature worlds are fascinating and wondrous for young children! They get to be masters of these little environments and explore beautiful materials that transport them to mysterious and amazing lands away from home. 

~Small World Play encourages imagination, investment, and creativity, while providing so many avenues for conversation and knowledge building about people, places, animals, and more!

~Plus, it's a lot of fun! Children can pretend to have all kinds of fun adventures based on real life or fantasy stories they've read. They may also include elements where they imagine objects are other things, like using a twig as a magic wand and a stack of boxes as a castle.

COLLECTING FOR SMALL WORLDS

Small World components are meant to inspire little ones to combine different resources in unusual ways to create playful environments to explore and use your senses to help them understand and create connections and emotions with the people and living creatures in the world that they just created. Hope always liked to start with a picture book, she had a bank of elements for small world play that included, foliage and natural elements, characters and animals, then thematic items from her sensory bins and discovery baskets.I have included creative small world ideas to inspire you – they are all easy to create and each provide children with a completely different small world experience – happy playing!

For babies and young toddlers, creating a small world for imaginative play is so easy to do – just grab your child’s favorite figurines (or small vehicles) and then use a variety of loose parts to create a tiny world of fun. These scenes can be familiar to them or entirely based on fiction or their imagination. Children may create their small world play with stories they have recently heard. Or they may use it to explore aspects of real-life which interest them

Toddlers and preschoolers (as well as big kids!) will love collecting nature and arranging it in playdough to create a cute small world. Add a few toy animal figures and these miniature scenes are perfect for imaginative play. Painted or felt playmats and backgrounds are designed to encourage children to play in an open-ended manner, small world play allows children to dream, problem-solve and experiment all while honing important fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. 

While it’s fun to play with a pirate figurine, if a child is able to create a ship to sail an ocean to cross, another boat to battle and the harsh winds to avoid at sea, they’re able to improve their language and social skills, which helps them develop a sense of self, stronger vocabulary and ability to think creatively.

Floor Texture: Sand, Earth, Grass & Water

I enjoy having a variety of textures handy to recreate different “ground” or terrain that one would find in everyday landscapes. I use everything from playground sand and garden soil to faux grass! Bulk dry ingredients are amazing as well, as they come in virtually any size and color and have depth to stick animal feet, trees, etc. deeper within for some steadiness during play time. Play dough and felt    Glass beads or translucent stones work well for water, as does blue dough. Use ice or real water if you’d like to incorporate some literal water play into your small world activity.

Containment Structures: Fences, Homes, Mountains & Caves

No farm or zoo is complete without fencing- plus, it adds organization and categorization to small world play opportunities. There are many affordable, readymade fence options in craft stores or online, but I tend to prefer homemade or natural options. Easily craft fencing from popsicle sticks, toothpicks, or twigs plus some hot glue. Or, use branches as natural dividers!

Other important offerings to add to your small world play stash are containers that double as shelters. I find that dome shaped objects laying around my housework the best, like my abalone shell for sage burning, baskets and wooden bowls. The dome shape is ideal to place people and animals under (for shelter) or on top of (to recreate mountains, stages, or platforms). Flip it over to create an instant lake, pool, or valley, or turn it on its side to make a cave. Tip: If you don’t have items available, using dough or clay to create mountains, caves, and other structures is a prime option!

Foliage: Trees & Bushes

A small world environment can be pretty bland without a touch of lush green. Use moss balls, play trees, clippings from your yard, or fresh (or dried) herbs. If your little one mouths toys, plastic or natural wool/cloth options may be more ideal for you. I most enjoy the look of the folksy, handmade cloth trees (a great resource for these and other small world play items is The Small Folk), but personally find them to be out of my budget. Instead, I use model trees for a realistic look, and add log “stumps” to them myself with branch cuttings, making them stand on their own and look adorable.

Natural Materials

As always, you can never go wrong with bits of nature. Wooden slices, rocks, precious stones, seashells, dried spices, etc. can be used to enhance the look and realism of any small world play environment (for example, a small world “ocean” scene must have sea shells). These objects can also be used to represent other items, such as food for animals, pirate treasure, dinosaur “eggs”, etc. Have fun collecting natural materials for use with all sorts of play over years and years of development.

Natural resources encourage children to bring all of their senses into play. Observe objects closely and identify their similarities and differences by smelling, touching and perhaps even tasting (for the ones who may still explore objects with their mouths). Of course, adult supervision is imperative during this play, when objects which impose small risks are added to play. Natural materials present opportunities for sorting, classifying and encourage the use of descriptive language. Providing an interesting and ever-changing environment for children to explore is an ideal way to develop their curiosity, creative thinking and provides opportunities for them to ask questions. Let them talk about the things they have discovered. 

Printables
You can find loads of helpful printable resources on the web. You can easily make your own stick puppets, print out backgrounds and settings to use, or find handy prompts to help support your little ones as they play. Let them use these toys or puppets to make their own stories and give them a chance to let their imaginations free. Manipulating smaller props and characters is brilliant fine motor skills practice too!

The most complete set of creative play printables is at TWINKL. And it’s a good place to start. It does have small fees 

Life over C’s and Playdough Activities are my favorite free sites.

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning.
But for children, play is serious learning.”
-Fred Rogers

This is my favorite quote about play because it is so true! Playing is not just a way for kids to spend time and have fun; We now know that play has an important purpose in cognitive development. More and more research is coming out that shows children learn best when they are active and engaged. Play has been found to improve language, creativity, problem solving, math, social skills, emotional regulation, motivation for learning, and fine and gross motor skills. Research has also shown that children who are taught through guided play have additional academic benefits (Weisberg et al, 2013).

In order to bring back play, it’s important to consider the different types of play, what ages each type of play is appropriate for, the best toys or items to use to learn from this play, and what adults can do to facilitate each kind.

SENSORY PLAY

Sensory play can be any play that involves the senses. This type of play allows children to explore, create, play, and engage in experiential learning through their sense of sight, smell, touch, taste, and sounds. Using senses in learning and play can stimulate one’s brain in many different areas to maximize learning. Sensory play can also have additional fine motor benefits as well as have a calming effect on some children that are easily overstimulated. Sensory learning and play begins in early infancy and can continue throughout one’s lifetime. Just as a specific smell can bring back a vivid memory, a child can access information stored in their brains easier when they have learned with multiple modalities. Examples of sensory play can include: sensory bins, water tables, sand tables, play-doh, kinetic sand, cooking, science experiments, and so much more! 

Adults can guide learning in sensory play by commenting about things the child hears, smells, tastes, sees, and feels. Additionally, adults can talk about what children are doing to increase language skills, “pour the water, now it’s full”, “mix the batter”, or ask them to make predictions, “What do you think will happen if… I predict…” Sensory play is a great way to introduce pre-academic skills, such as writing in sand, counting items as you manipulate toys, measuring quantities, and learning positional words such as in/under/on

Creative Play

Creative play involves using an object or toy in a novel way that sparks one’s imagination and allows self expression in inventive ways. Symbolic play occurs when a child pretends an item is something else, such as a block is a car or a blanket is snow. 

Creative play has many benefits as it helps children build confidence, independence, and develops problem solving skills. Early examples of pretend play begin to develop between 12- 18 months of age and can include feeding a baby doll, barking like a dog, pretending a sock is a hat, or pretending to talk on a phone. As children reach the age 2-3, they should begin expanding their creative play by creating simple problems or play scenarios such as saving a hurt duck, building a house or train station out of blocks or magnets, or cooking food in a pretend kitchen. 

Creative play expectations and abilities increase as children get older and progress in this area should be seen over time. 

More Playdough and Nature Activities

Play dough and natural materials are the perfect combination! They allow kids to be creative as they experiment with different colors, smells and textures.  It is a simple activity to set up, because all you need is play dough and materials you can collect on a nature hunt in your backyard or nearby park.

Some natural materials you can use with play dough include:

• bamboo, bark, driftwood, sticks, wood rounds

• flowers, grass, leaves and moss

• acorns, conkers, gum nuts, pine cones, seed pods, walnuts

• pebbles, rocks and stones

• dirt and sand

• feathers and shells

You can make your own natural play dough at home and add all kinds of different sensory ingredients, including:

• cocoa, coffee and tea

• bulgur wheat, dried beans, lentils, oats, barley, popping corn, rice, split peas

• poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds

• bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, lavender, mint, nutmeg, paprika, rosemary

• eucalyptus/lemon/orange/peppermint/rose essential oils

Some fruits, vegetables and herbs/spices you can use to naturally dye play dough include:

pink – beetroot, plums, raspberries, strawberries

purple – blueberries, blackberries, red cabbage

yellow/orange – carrot, onion skins, paprika, turmeric

green – spinach, matcha or spirulina powder

brown – bark, cocoa, coffee, fennel

Here are some of our favorite ideas for play dough and nature activities for kids:

Playdough and nature activities your kids will love from Mother Natured

Natural play dough recipes – with nature play ideas from Sun Hats & Wellie Boots

Playdough nature landscapes from Be a Fun Mum

Play Doh play using natural materials from Kidspot

Outdoor play dough invitation to create from Toddler at Play

Build a bird nest from Mama’s Happy Hive

Nature’s stampers: impressions in play dough from Danya Banya

Spring tree play dough invitation from Fantastic Fun and Learning

Garden flower play dough from NurtureStore

Natural playdough from Squiggles & Bubbles

Sand play dough with loose parts from Mama Papa Bubba

Jungle play dough from Picklebums

Naturally coloured & scented playdough with free recipe from A Crafty Living

20+ PLAYDOUGH INVITATIONS TO PLAY IDEAS

This ocean themed play dough invitation is a hands-on way for preschoolers to explore and learn about the ocean habitat. It only requires 4 ingredients and no cooking!

This invitation to create a playdough fairy world is an excellent way to work on a child’s sensory development. Kids can easily use this on their own for unsupervised busy time.

You can pair this bug fossils play dough invitation to play with books or lessons about bugs for an excellent teaching experience. The use of tweezers also helps in developing coordination and hand-eye coordination.

Use buttons, beads, google eyes and pipe cleaner to make adorable bunnies in this bunny play dough invitation to play. This is a perfect activity for Spring, Easter, or Animal theme lessons!

This bird nest play dough invitation to play would be great to pair with bird lessons and activities, or to stand alone as fun play time. You can use twigs from your back yard, noodles from the pantry, and then any fun bird toys you can find.

This space galaxy play dough invitation to play is a must for any kids who love space. It can easily be modified using any toys you already have or by purchasing some of the space-specific items listed in the link.

This worm play dough invitation to play is perfect for any kid who likes slippy slimy bugs! All you need is play dough, rocks, fake worms (gummies can work too!) and some toothpicks.

Use this playdough counting garden invitation to play to teach math while having fun! It’s also a fun way to practice number recognition and creating sets.

This playdough math invitation to play is very open-ended and it keeps preschoolers busily learning many different math skills. This is also a great way for you to assess your child’s math skills in a natural, non-assessment kind of setting.

Let your kids’ imaginations run wild with this flower garden play dough invitation to play. With some seeds, flowers, and fake gardening tools, this activity is a great way to teach about flowers, growth, and springtime.

This butterfly garden play dough invitation is a great way to teach about butterflies and ecosystems. Kids can make all sorts of gardens with different colors and materials.

This seashells and play dough invitation to play is an excellent way to introduce ocean learning to your preschoolers. This post includes a link to an excellent play dough recipe that’s cheap and easy to make.

Make silly playdough monsters with this monster play dough invitation to play. This post includes a link to a free printable for monster eyes, but you can use simple googly eyes or anything else you have on hand.

This cute and simple butterfly play dough tray is a great way for kids to stay busy on their own. Simply put together whatever materials you want for them and let them get creative.

This veggie garden play dough invitation to play is a fun way to incorporate math into your food theme and a non-imposing way to teach children about vegetables! Research shows that the more exposure children have to a food, the more likely they are to try it; so why not take that level of exposure to a new level with this fun activity?

How fun is this play dough cupcakes invitation to play? All you need is play dough, cupcake liners (this one calls for silicone, but regular might work as well), candles, and any fun decor items you want to use.

If you have kids who love army men and already have army toys and accessories, this play dough army men invitation to play will hold their attention for hours. Watch their little minds get creative as they build forts, battlefields, and more!

If you have kids who love dinosaurs, this dinosaur play dough invitation to play is for you! In this post you’ll also find a link to a free printable dinosaur play dough counting mat to add a learning element the experience.

This playdough fairy garden invitation to play  is perfect if you have some toy fairies, buttons, and beads lying around! The glitter in the play dough adds the perfect hint of fairy magic.

This spring tree play dough invitation to play is an excellent way to teach seasons, fauna, and more! You can buy tree-themed items at a craft store or simply collect the items from your back yard.

Try this fall themed playdough invitation to play. Fall has all the best materials for playdough activities for preschoolers.

If you have some aquarium accessories at home like rocks, gravel, plants, or gems, this duck pond play dough invitation might be perfect for you! This invitation is sure to inspire a lot of pretend play and storytelling.

This pumpkin patch invitation to play comes with a free counting printable. My preschoolers loved this one!

20 Small World Play Ideas using Play Dough

Play dough can be incorporated into so many different play activities, & one which compliments it perfectly is small world play.

Play dough is ideal to use as a base for small world play scenes to hold items in place, but it's also great for enabling play to evolve with a child's imagination. It enables small world play to develop in a whole new way, new items can be created as narratives or scenarios are explored, play dough figures can quickly be created & added to the play, & items can be squashed, rebuilt or remolded into something completely different. Incorporating play dough into small world play offers even more open-ended, creative, & spontaneous play to develop.

Here are 20 of our favourite Small World Play Ideas which incorporate play dough beautifully.

Under the Sea Play

Fairyland

Harvest Time on the Farm

Dino Play

Winter Woodland

Mini Designer Cakes

A Birthday Party for the Fairies

Big Builders

Small World Farm

Tea Party

Jungle Play

Ocean Play

Mud Play

Digging for Bugs in the Mud 

A Little Garden

Dog Park

Bird Nest

Battleground

Mini Campsite

Have you combined play dough with small world play? 

Playdough Trays

When kids can share supplies, you can easily assemble a playdough tray by placing a variety of materials and tools, along with playdough in a divided tray.  Your kids will soon be exploring and using their imagination to make magnificent creations.

You can also add number cards or alphabet materials to work on math and literacy concepts in a playful and developmentally appropriate way.  Here are some ideas for some thematic invitations to play.

An Autumn Invitation To Play

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Construction Playdough Tray

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A Snowman Invitation To Play

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Winter Invitation To Play

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Spider Playdough Activities

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Turkey Invitation To Play

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Christmas Theme Invitation To Play

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Monster Playdough Activity

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Bunny Invitation To Play

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Apple Playdough Activities

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Butterfly Playdough Tray

https://earlylearningideas.com/butterfly-playdough-tray/

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Bug & Insect Invitation To Play

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Plant Theme Playdough Invitation To Play

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Flower Theme Playdough Tray

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 All About Me Playdough Tray

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Gingerbread Playdough Tray

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Space Playdough Tray

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SPRING PLAY DOUGH ACTIVITIES

SUMMER PLAY DOUGH ACTIVITIES

FALL PLAY DOUGH ACTIVITIES

WINTER PLAY DOUGH ACTIVITIES

Still Want More Play dough activities for kids?

• Fall Playdough Printables -Living Montessori Now

• Snowman Printable Playdough Mat – Wunder-Mom

• Ramadan Playdough Activities – Jeddah Mom

• Christmas Play Dough – The Best Ideas For Kids

• The Grinch Playdough – Simple Parenting

• Birthday Cake Playdough Batter – The Soccer Mom Blog

• Playdough Stamping – Picklebums

• Farm Mats – Look We’re Learning

• Playdough Acorns – The Gingerbread House

• Minion Playdough – Teach Me Mommy

• Beach Playdough Mats– Look We’re Learning

• Winter Playdough Activities – Living Montessori Now

• Peppermint essential oil playdough – The Chaos and The Clutter

• Pumpkin Pie Playdough – Wunder-Mom

• Space Playdough – Picklebums

More Playdough Activities on our Pinterest Board

More Small World Ideas at Creating Small Worlds

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