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.

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

Play Dough Meditation or Mindfulness Practice

Like any mindfulness techniques this one also starts with being in a quiet place, away from distractions, starting with deep breathing and so on. Well, you need play dough in this case.

Instead of making it too formal and serious for them, try to keep it child-friendly. As they start playing with the dough, ask how it feels when they squeeze or stretch it. Ask them how it smells, whether it is heavy or light, cold or hot, how it looks, sounds like, and so on.

Let them lead the project and do what they want with the dough. You follow their lead or how you can help. Let them guide you with this one because it is definitely their forte. Let them make their favorite shapes, objects and have a good time. When they seem distracted, try to redirect them to the activity by asking questions about what they are making or the play dough itself. After you finish, ask if they enjoyed it, what they liked the most about this activity, if they would like to do it more often, and so on. Read our articles on various mindfulness practices and its benefits to incorporate mindfulness practices into your child’s and families’ routine.

So, play dough is not just a ball of soft squishy mess after all. It is great for early childhood development. You could 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.

Happy parenting!

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