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(Unit 2) Topic 2: Playdough

2 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

What to Know About Playdough

Playdough is a fun medium that adjusts to the needs and desires of the person handling it. 

​Topic 2 Page 3

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Whether the child is making letter shapes from the dough or creating an elaborate small world with playdough features, it is a helpful and beneficial material to have in the classroom. Playdough can provide hours of creative play, small motor skill practice, sensory exploration, stress or anxiety relief, social interaction and collaborative learning experiences. 

​Playdough can be just a play material that allows children to express their creativity and flex their artistic muscles, but what is often not realized is that the material is so much more than that. Yes, creativity and imaginative play is very important but with a little guidance and some supplemental tools there is no limit to playdough play! Another benefit of playdough is that it transcends age, language, and ability level and is very inexpensive. Playdough can even be child-made to create further learning experiences! 

Special needs children can benefit from playdough play. The dough can be manipulated in many ways, the squishing and pulling of the materials can be beneficial, particularly to those with sensory aversion/challenges. 

The small motor skill practice that playdough presents is inherent in the pinching and grasping of the materials. It is also found in the rolling, shaping and building of the dough. Building these small muscle groups make pencil and scissor use easier.​

The sensory aspect of playdough is often enjoyed by children of all ages. Infants through school-age children enjoy the feel of different doughs and can participate with appropriate adaptations. When children use all five of their senses they are discovering their environment and creating scientific discoveries about the world around them. This allows them to process information about the materials and environment that they are in and test hypotheses, make predictions, and analyze data.

Playdough also brings a calming activity for stress or anxiety relief. Some teachers will use playdough as an entrance activity for their students, or on the first day of school or child care. It is a wonderfully calming sensory practice and benefits many children. 

​When children play with playdough together they are collaborating and interacting in new ways with a familiar material. They have opportunities to take turns, share, communicate new ideas, and empathize with their peers. This social interaction builds on their social and emotional development for all age groups and provides a platform to make new friendships and strengthen existing ones. It also gives them collaborative learning opportunities to develop team work, problem-solving and analytical thinking in groups. 

Different age groups can use playdough in different ways.
​Let’s discuss some of those ways!

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