The Preschooler

Play Dough for Fine Motor Skills

Have you ever met someone who doesn’t like to play with play dough?  Even as adults, there seems to be some sort of attraction to this magical substance.  You can buy it for next to nothing, and you can make it for even less.  It comes in just about any color you can think of, and there are no limits to what you can make with it.  From a parent or teacher perspective, it is also a wonderful tool for developing fine motor skills.

The next time your child is playing with play dough, sit down with her and play along.  Try some of these simple activities to help her strengthen her fine motor skills:

• Encourage her to follow your lead as you roll out several “snakes”. 
• Show her how to make balls out of the dough by rolling it in the palms of her hands. 
• Flatten the dough with a rolling pin or similar object and let her use cookie cutters to make shapes.  Use a spatula to lift the shapes off the table and transfer them onto a cookie sheet. 
• Use a blunt knife (often included in store bought kits) to cut designs in the play dough. 
• And my favorite, use a pair of children’s safety scissor to snip and cut the play dough.

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Written by Laura on February 14, 2011