Category: Playdough

Playdough Umbrellas

4/7/2016

We do a lot of work with playdough because of how wonderful it is for fine motor development. We made playdough umbrellas and the children really did an awesome job with them.

They chose the colors they wanted to use and then flattened out the playdough so that it could be cut with a circle shape cookie cutter. They then took a craft stick and cut the circles in half. They made the umbrella handles by forming black playdough into letter J shapes.

Playdough Umbrellas Fine Motor Activity For Preschool and Kindergarten

They used buttons to decorate their umbrellas and rolled blue playdough into small balls which represented raindrops. We did a color match with the buttons and the playdough which I think turned out really cute. If you do not have buttons you can also use pony beads.

You can see a video of this activity by clicking below:

I also have more umbrella activities below that you can check out:

umbrella pom pom match

umbrella button count

felt raindrop math

3 Comments

Shamrock Cover-Up

3/10/2016

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shamrock fine motor cover-up for preschool and kindergarten

I made a shamrock cover-up for the children to work on fine motor development as well as eye-hand coordination. I've included the cover-up circles which I always attach self-adhesive magnets to the backs so that children can pick up and move them easier.

shamrock fine motor cover-ups for preschool and kindergarten

use with do-a-dot markers or bingo daubers

use with pom poms and playdough balls

The children really love these cover-up activities and they can use a variety of materials with them. Besides the cover-up circles we use pom poms and playdough balls. I also print out the black and white version on regular paper instead of cardstock and the children use do-a-dot markers or bingo daubers to cover the blank circles.

You can download the shamrock cover-up here.

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Shamrock Fine Motor Activities

3/3/2016

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shamrock fine motor activities for preschool and kindergarten

I wanted to re-share three of our favorite shamrock themed fine motor activities from last year in case you missed them. We made shamrock playdough with giant gold glitter and the children cut shamrock shapes out of it with cookie cutters.

We also used the playdough for a roll and cover game which was a lot of fun. For a simple but cute craft project we glued sequins onto cardstock shamrocks. You can see the individual activities by clicking the link below each picture.

shamrock playdough

sequin shamrock

shamrock roll and cover

These hands-on activities provide a great way for children to develop their fine motor skills and I try to provide many opportunities throughout the day for fine motor play.

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Playdough Apples

9/4/2015

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Playdough Apples For Preschool and Kindergarten Fine Motor Development

As most of you know we love working with playdough and I try to incorporate a couple of playdough activities with each theme because it is a wonderful tool for helping to build fine motor skills.

Today we made playdough apples which the children really had a great time with. They took playdough and made apple shapes from it (they used red ... green ... and yellow). Next they made a stem and leaf for each apple.

Once the apples were made the children then took pony beads and pressed them into the apples. Most chose to do color matching with the beads. If you use pony beads with this activity please remember to use supervision with children under the ages of three and those still in the stages of putting small items in their mouths.

You can see a video of this activity by clicking below:

4 Comments

Watermelon Math Center

7/10/2015

25 Comments

Watermelon Match Center For Preschool and Kindergarten

I made a watermelon themed math center activity that also works on developing fine motor skills. I printed the patterns out and on cardstock paper ... cut them out and laminated them.

Watermelon Math Center For Preschool and Kindergarten

Before we began the activity the children rolled black playdough into small balls about the size of a blueberry and put them into a dish. The children loved this part and it really helps with fine motor. If you do not have black playdough you can use brown playdough ... black pony beads ... even black oil sunflower seeds.

I set the watermelon slices in a basket for the children to self selected and they put the matching number of playdough balls on each watermelon. The watermelon patterns include numbers 0-30 and you can grab them here.

You can see a video of this activity below:

25 Comments

Shamrock Playdough

2/27/2015

5 Comments

Shamrock Playdough For Toddlers Preschool Kindergarten Fine Motor Development

I made shamrock playdough for our upcoming shamrock theme next week. I used my favorite recipe and just added a couple of extra ingredients.

To make the playdough you will need:

1 cup of flour
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of salt
2 tsp of cream of tartar
1 tbs of cooking oil
6-8 drops food coloring
2-3 drops of mint extract
gold glitter (stirred in after I took the pan of the burner)

You just mix the ingredients together and cook over medium heat. It only takes a few minutes before it forms a lump of dough. You will need to stir the mixture continuously to prevent it from burning. Remove the dough from the pan and let it cool. You can then squish and squeeze it until it forms a playdough consistency. Store the dough in an air tight container.

I purchased gold jumbo glitter at walmart and I really like the way it added sparkle to the dough. I was going to use regular glitter until I saw the jumbo glitter. I was worried that the glitter would fall out of the dough and get all over but that did not happen.

The mint extract made the dough smell really yummy and I was really pleased with how the dough turned out. Besides free play we will be using the shamrock playdough with a mat that I will have available next week so keep and eye out for that!!

You can see a video of the shamrock playdough here or by clicking below: