Use different senses and explore various materials. Try open-ended activities that inspire interests, support persistence, and lead to new discoveries.
Playdough
Playdough provides a gentle sensory experience that children can experience through touch, sight, and even smell. Children can practice using their hands and fingers to poke, squeeze, and pat. Or they can use tools to cut, roll, and make imprints.
Making playdough can also be part of the activity!
This activity video is available from April 19, 2021 to May 31, 2021.
How to make playdough
What you need (Grey text means alternatives to make gluten/wheat free playdough)
- 2 cups of flour (1 cup of rice flour & 1 cup of cornstarch)
- ½ cup of salt (1 cup of salt)
- ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar (optional)
- 1 cup of warm water
- 3 teaspoons of cooking oil (2 teaspoons of cooking oil)
- A few drops of food coloring to add color (optional)
- Tools: Two bowls, measuring cups or spoons, spoon for mixing
What to do
- Mix together all the dry ingredients in one bowl.
- Mix together all the wet ingredients in the other bowl.
- Slowly pour wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Mix all the ingredients as they come together to form a dough. Knead until it’s smooth. If it’s too sticky, add more flour. If it’s too dry, add more water.
- Add a few drops of food coloring and keep kneading. (Or you can also mix the food coloring in with the wet ingredients)
Engage with Touch
If your child likes to touch things, add oatmeal, rice, or sand to the playdough to change its texture.
If your child tends to avoid certain textures, start by exploring the playdough with tools. Then use the playdough as a great opportunity for your child to feel more comfortable with textures. Begin with a small ball of dough and put it on your child’s hand. Or help them use just one finger to poke the dough.
Engage with Touch
Add color to the playdough with food coloring. Mix together different colors of playdough to see what new color you can make.
Mold the dough into different shapes or make imprints on the dough. What shapes and textures do you see?
Engage with Conversations
Tell a story as you and your child mold the playdough into different shapes. For example, make a bunny, fish, and a circle as a pond. “Bunny is going fishing!“
Adding colors and scents to the playdough allows you and your child to engage more senses as you tell a story. For example, Bunny might be making red, cinnamon cookies. (Just don’t be tempted to eat the playdough!)
Activity Playbacks from Spring 2021
Snowdough
Let’s make and play with snow dough! This simple soft play dough brings all the fun of snow indoors without melting.
How to make snowdough
What you need
- 2 cups of cornstarch
- ½ cup of oil
- Large bowl for mixing
- Spoon
- Low-sided bin or tray
What to do
- Pour 2 cups of cornstarch and ½ cup oil into a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the contents around in the bowl with a spoon or your hands.
- Dump the contents into a low-sided bin or tray and break up any large clumps with your hands. The dough will be crumbly but moldable.
- Optional: Put the snow dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes to make it cool to the touch, like snow!
Playdough
Playdough provides a gentle sensory experience that children can experience through touch, sight, and even smell. Children can practice using their hands and fingers to poke, squeeze, and pat. Or they can use tools to cut, roll, and make imprints.
Making playdough can also be part of the activity!
How to make playdough
What you need (Grey text means alternatives to make gluten/wheat free playdough)
- 2 cups of flour (1 cup of rice flour & 1 cup of cornstarch)
- ½ cup of salt (1 cup of salt)
- ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar (optional)
- 1 cup of warm water
- 3 teaspoons of cooking oil (2 teaspoons of cooking oil)
- A few drops of food coloring to add color (optional)
- Tools: Two bowls, measuring cups or spoons, spoon for mixing
What to do
- Mix together all the dry ingredients in one bowl.
- Mix together all the wet ingredients in the other bowl.
- Slowly pour wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Mix all the ingredients as they come together to form a dough. Knead until it’s smooth. If it’s too sticky, add more flour. If it’s too dry, add more water.
- Add a few drops of food coloring and keep kneading. (Or you can also mix the food coloring in with the wet ingredients)
Small World
Build a small world for tiny friends, like stuffed animals or figurines (or even pets!). Pretend, expand your imagination, practice social skills, and explore new materials and stories!
Need help gathering materials? Try the Materials Hunt – and don’t forget to look in your recycling bin!