7 Benefits of Playing with Playdough

Whether it’s pink, yellow or blue, there’s something about the soft squishiness and unlimited possibilities that makes playing with playdough a firm kiwi childhood tradition. With no right or wrong way to play with playdough, a child’s experience is always positive.

7 Benefits of Playing with Playdough

Playing with playdough offers a child more than just a fun experience. There are numerous benefits it can provide, even though we’ve limited ourselves to only sharing seven:

Creativity – children can create their own works of art from images they have in their own heads. They can adapt their creations easily too, transforming a pizza into a dinosaur with little effort.
Cause and effect – a great way to learn cause and effect is when using playdough. Cut it and it gets smaller, squish it and it gets flat.
Social skills – it is through play that children develop their social skills. Playdough offers plenty of opportunities for a child to talk with other kids and adults about what they are doing, as well as playing with others.
Fine motor development – fine motor skills are developed, and hands strengthened when using playdough. All that rolling, flattening and squishing helps to develop the muscles needed for holding pencils and using scissors.
Vocabulary – sitting around the playdough table either at kindergarten or at home, allows children the time to talk about what they are making. Join in with their discussion, ask them about what they are making and even pretend to eat that freshly decorated cupcake! Introduce new descriptive words and use the playdough to demonstrate concepts such as heavy or light.
Literacy and numeracy – playdough is a great tool to use to introduce basic literacy and numeracy skills to kids. From making letters and shapes, through to counting and describing, there’s plenty of learning to be had.
Emotional regulation – there’s something calming about manipulating playdough. The way it squishes through your fingers and changes shape easily helps to reduce stress, express emotions and release excess energy.

When it comes to making playdough, there are plenty of cooked and uncooked recipes available online, so it’s easy to whip up a batch at home with things you’ve already got in the cupboard.

Whatever recipe you go with, playdough days can get messy fast. So reach for your child’s coveralls or craft apron before the fun begins, to keep their clothes nice and clean.