Your child will exercise many muscles in his hands, which strengthen his fine motor skills. Have your child use his hands, fingers, knuckles, nails, palms, and wrists while he molds his playdough. You can also have your child use playdough to make the letters in his spelling words. Here are some homemade playdough recipes.
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon of oil
2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of food coloring
Place all ingredients in a pan, stir, and heat gently until it forms a lump and leaves the sides of the pan. Once it has cooled, knead the dough. You can add a few drops of scented oils for different scents. Allow to cool thoroughly. Store in an airtight container.
Here is my children's favorite kind of playdough- the kind you eat. We make this at our home every couple of months. Yummy!
1 cup peanut butter 1 cup white corn syrup
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar (10x sugar)
1 1/4 cups dry milk powder
Mix peanut butter, corn syrup, and powdered sugar together. Add powdered milk and knead until smooth. (It gets very thick and must be kneaded with your child's hands for awhile, which is a great workout for your child's hands.) Your child can mold any shape he likes then eat it. We usually have a lot left over, so my children get to play with and eat peanut butter playdough for several days.
For a variation, I like to use Floam
and clay
. I find Floam is much easier and quicker to clean up than play dough. If your child works with clay, there are some types that can be baked, so your child can keep his creation forever. I like to integrate my children's clay projects with what they are learning in school. For example, my sons were learning about volcanoes, and they created erupting volcanoes with clay.
Enjoy making learning FUN!
Homemade Playdough Recipe
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon of oil
2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of food coloring
Place all ingredients in a pan, stir, and heat gently until it forms a lump and leaves the sides of the pan. Once it has cooled, knead the dough. You can add a few drops of scented oils for different scents. Allow to cool thoroughly. Store in an airtight container.
Edible Peanut Butter Playdough Recipe
Here is my children's favorite kind of playdough- the kind you eat. We make this at our home every couple of months. Yummy!
1 cup peanut butter 1 cup white corn syrup
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar (10x sugar)
1 1/4 cups dry milk powder
Mix peanut butter, corn syrup, and powdered sugar together. Add powdered milk and knead until smooth. (It gets very thick and must be kneaded with your child's hands for awhile, which is a great workout for your child's hands.) Your child can mold any shape he likes then eat it. We usually have a lot left over, so my children get to play with and eat peanut butter playdough for several days.
and clay. I find Floam is much easier and quicker to clean up than play dough. If your child works with clay, there are some types that can be baked, so your child can keep his creation forever. I like to integrate my children's clay projects with what they are learning in school. For example, my sons were learning about volcanoes, and they created erupting volcanoes with clay.
Check out this AWESOME and CREATIVE way to use Playdough in this best-selling unit!
Enjoy making learning FUN!
