Playdough is easy to make at home and you can customise it with different colours and fragrances. Add herbs such as rosemary or mint, some scented flowers like lavender, or an essence or juice from lemons or pineapple. Get your child to choose their favourite colour and fragrance.
As you make the playdough together, you can help your child to learn by talking about the process as you go. It's a great opportunity for them to learn about the different ingredients and the concepts of measuring and weighing. Break off bits of playdough and share them around - dividing it up is a good way to help children learn about numbers and counting.
Soft, pliable playdough also provides a wonderful tactile learning experience. Children are instinctively drawn to activities like squeezing, poking, pinching, squashing, picking it up and patting it down. As they do, they're developing their dexterity, strengthening their fingers and wrists, and working on important hand-eye and arm-body co-ordination skills.
Playdough is the ultimate free play, open ended toy. It can be anything from cupcakes to cars - which really helps to encourage your child’s creativity and imagination. Bring out their inner pastry chef by providing some muffin tins or other ‘props’ such as mixing bowls, cookie cutters, a garlic press, and rolling pins. Set up a pretend cafe or bakery afterwards and extend the play.
Aside from all the learning opportunities, there is also just something very therapeutic and calming about playing with playdough. Find a recipe online, cooked or raw, and have fun!