Sensory Activity Ideas for Early Childhood Learning

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I LOVE playdough!

When a child plays with playdough, there is much learning being had. 

1. Fine-Motor Development: The tasks of pinching, squeezing, pulling, rolling, and flattening playdough strengthens the small muscles of the hand. These muscles are important in developing successful writing, cutting, buttoning, and tying skills.

2. Increases Creativity & Imagination: Playdough can be anything to students! What may look like a simple ball of red dough to us, may be a chocolate-chip cookie or a pizza to a student. With playdough, there is no right way to create. Playdough play allows students to express themselves, engage in pretend play, and build their storytelling skills.

3. Improves Focus & Attention: Playing with playdough is calming. Students tend to be more focused when playing with it and usually participate longer with playdough than other activities. Playdough contributes to increased concentration and patience, while promoting independent play.

4. Encourages Language Development: Through playdough play, students converse, share, compare, explain, and describe. They increase their vocabulary and communication skills.

5. Supports Early Learning Skills: Pre-writing skills are developed. Early counting, patterning, and sorting skills are engaged, as well as the concepts of size, length, shape, and quantity. 

6. Helps with Emotional Regulation: Like a stress ball, playdough has calming qualities. Playdough play is known to aid students who are anxious, overstimulated, and/or frustrated. 

Playdough is a powerful learning tool for young learners!

You can find a variety of playdough tools available in-store and on-line through all major merchants. Although these tool sets are colorful and perfect-sized for toddlers and preschoolers, they can be very pricey.

Because of this, I have searched my home and classroom for readily available tools to enrich my students' playdough fun. 

From the Home:

1. Garlic and Citrus Squeezers

2. Potato Mashers

3. Plastic Spoons, Forks, and Knives

4. Rubber Spatulas

5. Tongs

6. Spatulas and Slotted Spoons

7. Rolling Pins

8. Measuring Cups and Spoons

9. Cookie Cutters

10. Small Cutting Boards

11. Melon Ballers

12. Ice Cream Scoopers

13. Small Cookie Cooling Racks

14. Plastic Meat Choppers

15. Plastic Hamburger Presses

16. Caps and Lids (laundry soap, milk jug, water, squeeze pouch)

17. Muffin Tins

18. Ice Cube Trays

From the Classroom:

1. Legos

2. Mr. Potato Head Accessories

3. Magnetic Letters and Numbers

4. People, Animals, and Dinosaurs

5. Cars and Trucks

6. Snap Cubes/Number Blocks

7. Marbles and Glass Gems

8. Dominoes

9. Beads (lacing and craft)

10. Craft Sticks and Tooth Picks

11. Googly Eyes

12. Pipe Cleaners

13. Child Scissors 

There are many homemade playdough recipes available on Pinterest and I have tried many of them. Although no-cook recipes involve less time and offer easier clean-up, I have found that they often do not hold up well to daily use from my twenty students. 

I have a playdough recipe that requires cooking, but its overall performance makes it worth all the effort.

1. The ingredients are inexpensive.

2. It holds color and shape well.

3. It has a soft and pliable texture.

4. With proper storage in an air-tight container, it will last for months! 

What you will need:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tarter

1/2 cup salt

1 tablespoon vegetable cooking oil

1 cup water

food coloring

large cooking pot

mixing bowl

strong wooden spoon

plate

air tight container

* This recipe is for one color of playdough. The recipe will need to be repeated for each color desired.

Step 1:

In a large pot, combine the water, oil, and food coloring. 

Add food coloring till you reach the desired color.

Step 2:

In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and cream of tarter.

Step 3:

Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the pot with the liquid ingredients, mixing the ingredients together well.

*Add more food coloring if desired.

*The mixture may appear slightly lumpy and this is okay.  

Step 4:

Cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly.

The dough will begin to form and dry up.

Continue stirring.

Step 5:

When the dough begins to form into a ball, remove the pan from the heat.

Step 6:

Place the dough on a plate to cool for approximately 2-3 minutes.

Step 7:

Knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

*If the dough sticks to your hands, put it back in the pot at medium heat and keep stirring till excess moisture is absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool, then knead the dough again.

Step 8:

Your playdough is done!

*Make sure to store the playdough in an air-tight container.

The playdough should last 2-3 months.

Enjoy!

Playdough is so versatile!

Playdough can be created to coordinate with ALL learning themes. 

By using easy add-ins, you can make playdough a daily learning experience for your students that they will not lose interest in. 

Children like colorful playdough. Bright colors are visually intriguing. Pastel colors are inviting.

Besides food coloring, natural dyes can be used to color playdough. 

beet powder=pink

blueberries=purple

turmeric=yellow

avocado stones=peach

spinach=green

red cabbage=purple 

coffee=brown

tea=assorted pastels

My students love smelly playdough too!

Here are some easy add-ins that will give your playdough wonderful scents.

Spices: cinnamon, allspice, pumpkin spice, apple pie spice

Extracts: peppermint, sugar cookie, vanilla, lemon, green apple, banana, orange, coconut, pineapple, peach, strawberry, watermelon, cherry, lime, lavender, rose

Flowers: fresh or dried flower petals (roses, lilacs, marigolds, etc.)

Oils: lavender, pine, cedar

Other: Kool-Aid Powders (assorted fruity scents), Citrus Zest

But what about visually pleasing playdough?

We know students love color, but what about sparkles?

That's right...GLITTER!

Glitter gives playdough an enchanted appearance. 

It is eye-catching to students and adds a delicate tactile feel to dough that my students enjoy immensely!

With glitter-infused playdough, comes great imagination, pretend play, and storytelling.

Sequins and confetti can be used too! 

I like to set up playdough fun trays and they have become a popular choice with my students. 

I use many natural elements in my trays, and I have found that most of my students prefer the natural items when creating with dough.

I use plastic party trays with separate sections (Dollar Tree) for these activities. 

When filled with playdough and nature items, the trays become an open-ended, hands-on invitation for creativity, exploration, and discovery. 

Curiosity and excitement builds, and my students flock to the trays.

Some students make prints in the dough, others create nature landscapes, while others build nature-based creatures. 

No matter what is being made, all my students are fully engaged. 

What nature items do I use in the playdough trays? 

Everything, or at least it seems that way sometimes, because I use what I can find. 

The outdoor weather does impact what I can readily find, but there are some nature items that can be purchased inexpensively (pinecones, pebbles, shells, etc.)

acorns

leaves

pinecones

pine needles

bark

twigs

stems

flowers (fresh or dried or fake)

petals

shells

pebbles/rocks

wood cookies

straw 

feathers

seeds and seed pods

herbs

vegetables (carrots, celery, small potatoes)

Outdoor Playdough Fun

Bring playdough on an outdoor adventure! 

Supply each student with their own playdough. 

The Dollar Tree sells mini storage containers with covers in a 10 pack that are excellent for this activity. 

Let students explore the environment. Encourage them to find an item they wish to make an imprint of (leaves, bark, flowers, rocks). 

Have students share and compare their prints with their peers. 

Playdough is AMAZING!

It is an inexpensive tool that can be used in nearly every learning center of the early childhood classroom, including the outdoor environment.

Playdough offers students full sensory engagement. 

Focusing on the tactile experience allows students to regulate their emotions. 

The task of kneading and manipulating playdough can serve as a non-verbal outlet for emotions, helping students to decompress and feel better.

Playdough play promotes relaxation and emotional well-being.

Teacher Tips:

1. Include access to playdough in your Cool Down Corner. It will help students regulate their emotions and feel better quicker.

2. Drop-off time can be an upsetting time for students, as well as a difficult time for parents. Have playdough play readily available in the mornings to help ease the separation from parents.

3. In the same sense, playdough is a great activity to offer in the afternoon while students are waiting to be picked up by their parents. Some students get upset and/or anxious seeing their friends being picked up while they are still waiting. Playing with playdough can help them deal with their growing feelings.