The Play Dough Process

The play dough centre is a very popular centre in our classroom. The play dough centre is always open as it serves many benefits for young children. Manipulating play dough helps strengthen muscles in the hands and the fingers. This is necessary for the development of fine motor control which is needed for writing, drawing, self help skills etc. This blog post demonstrates the process from making the play dough to creative play dough play. This can easily be done at home. Playing with play dough would provide your child hours of fun and learning. Here is the simple recipe I use when making my play dough.

Play Dough Recipe:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice section)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring
Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”.  Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Play dough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag.

All the ingredients to create chocolate, vanilla, mint and cinnamon play dough

To entice the children, the materials at a centre must always be set up in an inviting way. This sparks their interest and motivates them to come over and experiment.

Here is what their imagination created today. Chocolate cookies with a cherry on top.

A cake!

Cupcakes!



The child's words " look I made small cake balls and three different kinds of cupcakes!" "Would you like one!" As he walked around the classroom and offered his friends snack.





A great way to improved cutting skills. Children love to cut play dough.