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Playdough Playdough is a simple but very effective and motivating activity for children with many benefits:

It’s fun!

The malleable properties of play dough secretly build up strength in all the tiny hand muscles and tendons

It can be squashed, squeezed, rolled, flattened, chopped, cut, scored, raked, punctured, poked and shredded which can help fine motor development, hand-eye co-ordination, bilateral coordination and general concentration

It’s calming and relaxing – providing proprioception sensory input (sensation through our joints and muscles)

Helps to develop social skills, play and communication

Recipe for playdough Playdough is simple to make and there are many recipes, including edible playdough. The following is a basic recipe:

2 cups plain flour (all purpose)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

Up to 1.5 cups boiling water (adding in increments until it feels just right)

food coloring (optional)

few drops glycerin (optional- adds more shine!)

Playdough activities There are MANY activities that you can use with playdough – the beauty of it is that you can use your imagination and create your own games. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

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pounding, squashing and squeezing

rolling balls between 2 hands

rolling sausages using 2 hands; make sausages, worms, snakes, coil pots

roll small balls between thumb, index and middle fingers

make a pinch pot

poke objects into the playdough

hide objects like marbles and lego in the playdough to be found by digging them out

make playdough pizza and practice cutting with a knife and fork

using scissors to make snips in the playdough

Use shape cutters and other accessories

Make letters and shapes out of long rolls of playdough to practice letter formation

There are also a number of structured playdough programmes that can be used such as ‘Dough Gym’ and ‘Dough Disco’

Graded Play with Play Dough

Most children will happily play with play dough. However, there are some children who do not like to touch this type of texture and can find it quite threatening. For these children encourage them to play with it in a way that is safe for them or use alternatives to playdough that have a firmer texture such as plasticine as this will leave their hands less messy and gradually increase the physical contact with the dough.

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Email: PET@cumbria.nhs.uk Tel: 01228 602128 Freephone: 0800 633 5547

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Or write to Engagement and Communications Voreda House | Portland Place | Penrith | CA11 7QQ

ID: CH112 Version: 2 Issue date: November 2017 Review date: November 2019

© 2016 Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust