Play dough and child development have a significant connection. Let us see how. Kids love play dough. My kid loves it so much that she takes the dough that I keep for making bread to play sometimes. The squishy, soft texture and the choice of colors available in the market today manages to entice any kid and sometimes even adults. I play with her sometimes too. When I was a kid all I had was real brown clay to play with. It was not colorful. Play dough rekindles childhood in me too.

Play dough helps in child development (physical and mental) like many other art and craft materials. Those small muscles get worked and it helps develop fine motor skills. They get to explore colors, textures, molding tools, shapes, sizes, etc. On the other hand, it is their chance to get creative, innovative and even solve little problems that they might face in the process.

If you look at the unicorn cake above, the horn and ears kept falling apart. My daughter finally managed to fasten them with pieces of toothpick. These are subtle ways in which they might start solving even their math and science problems. How many flowers will the unicorn cake be able to hold, how big should the base of the cake be to hold up the rest of the cake? How tall can each layer of the cake be? These might be some typical questions she must have answered while engaging in this activity.

When she made the green monster she wanted a different face, and she stuck a fish tail in there. That was some smart work happening there, but it looked new and different nevertheless.

Play Dough Enables Wise Use of Energy, Coping Strategy & Oral Skills

Children love to mold, flatten, squeeze and shape their play dough. It also helps them use their energy in a wise way. It could even be used as a coping strategy when they seem stressed or anxious. They might even sometimes try to express their feelings or emotions through what they make. Talk to them about what they are making. This will not just help in understanding their feelings, but also aid in development of their language and social skills.

Pretend play is a huge part of child development whereby children learn symbolic thinking. They tend to engage in pretend play with their green monsters, unicorn cakes and stack of hearts most of the time. Pretend play helps kids learn negotiation, think from another person’s perspective (empathy), assign roles and responsibilities, share ideas, listen to other’s talk, engage in conversations, interact with people/ society, etc. It also improves their imaginative and creative skills.

So, play dough is not just a ball of soft squishy mess after all. It is great for early childhood development. You could simply simply use the bread dough at home with some food colors to get your tiny tot exploring. Join them in their explorative trysts with play dough. Help them grow while you also get to learn a thing or two from your tiny teachers.

Read more on how play dough molds your little one for a brighter future.

Happy parenting!

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