Hello there and welcome! So excited to share 30+ Educational Ideas for using Playdough in the Classroom.
Let’s be honest…education has changed a lot since you and I were in school. The curriculum has gotten more rigorous and the expectations have gotten higher for younger students. But if you think about it, the kids in my Kindergarten class have only been on this earth for 4, 5, or 6 years. Wow!
Depending on where you live and/or teach, children come to us with fewer experiences and background knowledge and many have poor fine motor skills. It is my strong belief that we should offer multiple opportunities for children to practice skills through various modalities. Through my experience, I have found that using what some call ‘play’, really allows students to experiment, practice, and master the skill required. One easy and simple way to give students a hands-on opportunity to practice skills, is to use playdough. It can be easy and inexpensive to make and can be used in all grade levels and with all ages. I mean, who doesn’t LOVE playdough?!
Homemade Playdough Recipes
Before I share the 30+ educational ways to use playdough in the classroom, here are 7 recipes that can be a fun addition to plain playdough. But looking for a regular playdough recipe?
Here is a link to my own personal recipe that I make and use in my classroom. It’s easy, quick, and inexpensive to make and requires NO cream of tartar or food coloring! You can find the printable recipe here. For the classroom, I make up bags of the dry ingredients and attach these labels to the front of the bag and give to parent volunteers to make batches for our classroom. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!
Playdough In The Classroom
Now that you have your playdough made, how can you use it in your classroom for educational purposes? So glad you asked…I have 30+ ideas that are perfect for a variety of grade levels and ages!
Fine Motor Activities
Halloween Freaky Playdoh Masks Mats
Playdough ‘Ice Cream’ for Pretend Ice Cream Store
Using Playdough for Fine Motor
Playdough Math
Number Order Sticks in Playdough
Science
Parts of a Plant Playdough Mat
Writing
Using Playdough for the ‘How to’ Writing Process
Literacy Activities (Letters, Sight Words, CVC words, Spelling)
Interactive Alphabet Playdough Mats
Alphabet Play Dough Mats from The Printable Princess
Chicka Chicka Playdough Mats (includes: letters, numbers, and sight words!) from Buzz Into Kinder
Playdough Mats for ‘Older’ Students from Miss L’s Busy Bees
CVC Words Playdough Mats by Primary Possibilities
ABC Playdough Mats / Learning with Mrs. Langley
Short Vowel Playdough Mats from A Pinch of Kinder
Reading & Spelling with Playdough 2 blog posts = Sea Bear’s Kindergarten
Math & Literacy Mats:
Playdough Fun Math & Literacy Activities
Extras for using Playdough in the Classroom
Using Playdough for Dental Health Month
End of Year Playdough Gift from KFUNdamentals
I hope that you have found an activity here today that you can use for your classroom! Have another educational idea or product to use with playdough in the classroom? Please leave me a comment and I will add it to this collection. Happy ‘Playing’ and Learning in the classroom!
So excited I found this article as it made things much quieckr!
Do you have a new link for your playdough labels that you send home to parents? Thanks!!