A popular and often calming activity, playdough has a texture that can be very soothing as tamariki | children focus and explore squeezing, pulling, pinching and rolling the dough.
Different cultures have different beliefs about using playdough in play because kai | food is used in the making of it.
Tips for using playdough at home#
Child-sized tables and chairs allow your tamaiti to comfortably spend time with these materials.
Dough needs to be soft and easy to work with. By breaking it into different-sized pieces, tamariki can learn to combine different pieces to make different shapes.
Playdough works well when it is close to family play equipment and blocks, as tamariki often like to role-play with dough.
If your tamaiti is gluten-intolerant, consider gluten-free alternatives. The play recipes page includes a gluten-free playdough option.
Ideas for equipment
- Tools for cutting, pressing, patterning, and shape-making such as shape cutters, shells, a garlic press, cutlery like forks and spoons, twigs, straws, and rolling pins.
- Art resources such as beads, buttons, and pipe-cleaners.
- Natural resources such as feathers, leaves, sticks, and driftwood. You could add flowers or herbs to white playdough for sensory learning.
- Cooking utensils such as pots and pans, bowls, measuring cups, cooking trays, or a tea set.
- Storytelling props such as animals, fences, dinosaurs, and rocks.
Learning with playdough#
Playdough can help your tamariki to:
- explore different textures and sensory experiences to develop their sense of touch and smell
- make sense of their social world such as pretending to prepare and cook kai
- experience success as there is no right or wrong way to play
- be creative and use their imagination to create and problem solve
- learn about science and maths while preparing, weighing and measuring
- tell stories, learn and practise language and vocabulary, talk about colours, textures and actions
- strengthen their finger and hand muscles, develop fine motor skills and improve hand-eye coordination.
Support your tamaiti#
You can support tamariki by:
- making sure there is clean, fresh playdough available
- providing a variety of tools and materials to explore shape, size, patterns, and texture
- asking open-ended questions
- describing actions using rich language, “you are squishing the playdough, I can see it squeezing through your fingers!”
- using te reo Māori words and phrases
- involving them in making the dough and discussing colour, smell, texture, and what happens when liquids are added
- sitting at the table with them and having a conversation, singing, and imagining
- joining in and allowing them to lead the play.
