Playdough Monsters: Discovery at Home

What you need:

  • Playdough
  • Art supplies (pipe cleaners, googly eyes, yarn, popsicle sticks, etc)

Directions:

  1. Mold your playdough to create the body shape of the monster or character you would like to build.
  2. Add different materials to create the features on the body.
  3. You could add eyes, arms, hair, or more!
  4. Once you complete your monster, show it off, take it apart, and make a different one! There are so many possibilities.

Ways to Expand the Activity:

  • Create a story using multiple playdough monsters.
  • Instead of monsters, you could create models of your relatives and show a playdough family portrait.
  • You could also combine this activity with stop motion animation to create your own movie!

What Kids Learn:

  • Children gain social and emotional skills through dramatic play. When they pretend, they are experimenting in social roles, practicing language, and solving problems.
  • Spatial or visual thinking. Being able to imagine the positions of objects and how they interact is an important skill for learning math.
  • Fine motor skills. Kids practice using the small muscles in their hands later used for writing.
  • Sensory play! Sensory play that lets children touch, squeeze, smell and feel helps build connections in the brain.
  • Creativity! There are so many ways to create using playdough. Creating something using their imagination enhances those creativity abilities.
  • Calming effect. When you sit down to squish and mold playdough, there is a moment of calm where you can express your feelings through the way you interact with the playdough.