Play Dough Activities

Making play dough and practicing pouring and stirring works on shoulder, arm and hand strength.  My favorite recipe is below:

Playing with play dough helps to improve hand strength, finger control and the ability to handle tools.  Handling tools are great practice for using a spoon, fork, and knife and develops the muscles needed to hold a pencil or use scissors.

To improve whole hand strength:

Make a ball and flatten into a cookies using whole hand

Squeeze with whole hand

Roll into a worm with both hands

Roll into a worm with one hand

Push down on a cookie cutter

Karate chop a log shape (don’t forget to add the Miss Piggy’s Hiii Ya!)

To improve isolated finger control:

Poke play dough with pointer finger

Poke play dough with thumb isolated

Pinch play dough the missing piece between pointer and thumb

Squeeze a marble size ball between the pointer and thumb

Push a small disk or buttons into the play dough

Hide small items into the dough and have you child pull the dough apart to find the item

To improve ability to manipulate “tools” and to develop hand arches

Cut with a pizza cutter

Stick small pieces into a garlic press

Use cookie cutters

Cut with plastic knife

Stab small ball with plastic fork

Squeeze play dough thru garlic press

Push in cookie cutter and pull up with fingertips.

To improve prewriting skills

Roll a hot dog and make simple shapes, a person or letters.

Have your child copy a design (a line with a ball on top)

Make a letter with several pieces.  Remove one piece, Can your child replace

Play-dough

2 Cups of flour

1 cup of salt

4 Tablespoons of oil

4 Tablespoons of cream of tartar

2 cups of water with coloring