27+ Fantastically Fun Playdough Activities

Playdough is some of the most magical stuff in the world when you're a kid. As you know, we have quite a collection of playdough recipes, so we've decided to compile some fun-filled playdough activities to go along with them! Next time your child asks what to make with playdough this can be your go to list of playdough ideas! 

Playdough activities
 


You'll find plenty of interesting ways to present playdough to your children as well as creative playdough ideas for kids to play with it. 

Sensory play is essential for toddlers and preschoolers, and playdough is an affordable, easy material to encourage sensory exploration. Mix up some homemade playdough and choose one of these wonderful playdough activities to start with today.

You might also like our printable playdough mats


Playdough ideas




 

Playdough Activities


Let's kick this list of playdough ideas off with a handful of playdough activities that we've tried and loved! From playdough art inspired by famous artists to counting with playdough to a STEM shape creation playdough activity, you'll find plenty to do with soft, squishy playdough.


Playdough activities for toddlers and preschoolers





 

Picasso Faces Playdough Activity

Introduce your child to famous artists from an early age. Our post on Picasso Art for Kids making playdough faces is a terrific way for preschoolers to begin learning about Picasso. Encourage kids to use their creative thinking skills to make faces from playdough using different colours, shapes, etc.

picasso faces playdough activity for kids



2D Playdough Shapes

Our 2D Playdough Shape Activity is a playful way to learn how to make shapes like squares, rectangles, stars, hexagons, etc. using craft sticks and playdough. It's a fun STEM project you can put together in just a few minutes using homemade playdough or store-bought Play-Doh.

2d playdough shapes - playdough activities for toddlers and preschoolers



Summer Tree Playdough Activity

Combine nature and sensory play in this Summer Tree Playdough Activity. Go outside to gather a few bright green leaves of various sizes, and pair it with some brown playdough. It's easy and fun! Don't miss our Autumn Playdough Activity for fall.

Summer tree playdough activity

 

Woodland Playdough Activity

Our Woodland Playdough Activity is another fun way to incorporate items from nature into your playdough activities. Gather rocks, flowers, leaves, sticks, and anything else you'd like to make a woodland area for toy deer, squirrels, birds, etc. You could also make a Playdough Jungle by switching up the animals used. 

woodland playdough activities

 

Apple Counting Playdough Activity

Use this Apple Theme Counting Activity in autumn or any time during the year to help toddlers and preschoolers engage with numbers in a playful way. Using both a number die and a colour die makes this playdough activity like a game for kids.

apple counting playdough activity


Monster Playdough Activity

Toddlers will love our simple Playdough Monster activity where they can add googly eyes and match stick arms and legs to a ball of playdough to create their own monsters. Preschoolers can take it one step further and use this playdough idea to practice their counting as they count how many eyes each monster has.

Monster playdough activity for toddlers and preschoolers



Playdough Seashell Fossils

Summer is the perfect time for some ocean-themed fun, like our Seashell Fossil Playdough Activity. It's a fun way to discuss how fossils are formed over time. You may even want to leave the playdough out to harden to make it look and feel like real fossils!

What to make with playdough - playdough seashells fossils



Bird Nest Playdough Activity

Learning about birds? Our Build a Bird Nest Playdough Activity is the perfect addition to a bird-themed unit. It's also a fantastic sensory and fine motor activity that toddlers and preschoolers will have hours of fun with.

Bird nest playdough activity for kids - fun playdough ideas



Pumpkin Playdough Activity

Have fun making pumpkin playdough faces using orange and green playdough along with shapes cut out from black construction paper. This is a perfect playdough idea for Halloween. 

 
Pumpkin playdough faces play dough activity



Skeleton Playdough Activity

Another fun play dough activity for Halloween is our Playdough Skeleton Activity. This playdough idea is easy to set up and not only great for Halloween, but also for a human body theme. Use our skeleton printables along with black playdough and q sticks. 

Skeleton playdough activity for kids


 

Playdough Flowers Counting Activity

Set up a fun math exercise using our Playdough Flowers Counting Activity. Kids can make petals for the flowers out of playdough, buttons, leaves, actual flower petals, and so much more!

Playdough flower counting activity



Van Gogh Sunflowers Playdough Activity

Here is a fun playdough idea for older kids! Learn a little about Van Gogh as you recreate his famous sunflower painting from playdough. Use our printable outline to help your create your own playdough sunflowers.

Van Gogh Sunflower playdough activity for kids



Box of Chocolates Play Dough Activity

Have fun making a box full of chocolates using our Chocolate Playdough. Toddlers and preschoolers will love getting involved in pretend play as they make, decorate and serve up some delicious looking playdough chocolates. 

 
Chocolate playdough activity for toddlers and preschoolers




Playdough Ideas for Learning and Play


If you need even more fun playdough activities for kids, check out the options below. You're going to love the variety and creativity of these playdough activity ideas and the many ideas of things to make with playdough. 

Things to do with playdough




 

Forky Playdough Activity

Build your own Forky with the instructions provided by Simple Everyday Mom. You'll use a wooden spoon, playdough, pipe cleaners, and craft sticks to make a Forky that looks just like the movie version.

forky playdough activity

 

Caterpillar to Butterfly Playdough Activity

A Very Hungry Caterpillar is a favourite children's book, and it gets even better when it's paired with this terrific Caterpillar to Butterfly Playdough Activity by Powerful Mothering. You'll want to make plenty of homemade playdough so you can make your caterpillar and butterfly nice and big!

Caterpillar to butterfly playdough activity for toddlers



Five Little Ducks Playdough Activity

This Five Little Ducks Playdough Activity by Danya Banya is a fun nursery rhyme-themed play idea that's sure to put a smile on your kiddo's face. Make five little playdough ducks, and then sing the nursery rhyme as the kids move and play with them.

what to make with playdough - five little ducks playdough activity

 

Rainbow Playdough Activity

This Rainbow Playdough Activity by Picklebums is so bright and cheerful! Use the rainbow accessories, like clouds, rainbows, and sunshine to make your own rainbow-themed playdough scene.

What to make with playdough - rainbow playdough activity


Sunflower Playdough Activity

Summer is the season of gorgeous yellow sunflowers, so this Sunflower Playdough Activity by Steam-Powered Family is an excellent activity for kids, even those older than preschoolers. In addition to making homemade playdough, you'll provide lots of loose materials, sunflower seeds, dried black beans, buttons, pom-poms, and more, to encourage kids to build their flowers using a variety of materials.

playdough ideas - sunflower playdough activity



 

Chinese or Korean Playdough Activities

Have you ever thought about incorporating playdough into your foreign language lessons? This post on Ways to Teach Chinese and Korean with Playdough by Chalk Academy offers some valuable tips for using playdough to stamp out characters and for forming characters and words.

Chinese or Korean playdough activity

 

Ice Cream Playdough

Spend the day in pretend-play with this naturally-coloured and flavoured Ice Cream Playdough by Kids' Craft Room. It has a vibrant purple colour and is easily scoopable, making it perfect for pretend ice cream.

Ice cream playdough activity for toddlers and preschoolers



Stick Man Play Dough

Gather sticks, buttons, and googly eyes to build stick men! This Stick Man Play Dough activity by Emma Owl is fun and simple enough for kids of all ages to make. It goes wonderfully with the Stick Man book!

Stick man playdough activity for toddlers and preschoolers

 

Pokemon Playdough

Do you have Pokemon obsessed kids? They'll love this fun Pokemon Playdough by STEAM Powered Family. Kids will learn how to make a playdough Pikachu as well as a playdough Pokeball. Isn't that neat?

what to make with playdough ideas - pokemon playdough activity


 

Sensory Playdough Donuts

How about making some Sensory Donuts by Barley and Birch? Set up a donut-making station with playdough, slime "icing," sprinkles, and other goodies to make pretty donuts that are fun to squish, squeeze, pinch apart, etc.

what to make with playdough ideas - donut playdough activity


 

City Playdough Activity

This City Playdough Activity by Picklebums can provide kids with hours of fun. It includes free printable traffic signs and traffic cones so that you can set up your own little city for your toy cars.

City playdough activity for toddlers


 

Cupcake Playdough Activity

Read the book, Camilla, the Cupcake Fairy, and make gorgeous Playdough Cupcakes by Artsy Momma. This is the perfect "crafternoon" to spend with your kids. Add spices and extracts to your homemade playdough to make it smell like you're really baking. You can also try our Playdough Cupcake Counting Activity

what to make with playdough ideas - cupcake playdough activity


 

One Fish Two Fish Playdough Idea

This One Fish, Two Fish Edible Playdough Recipe by Natural Beach Living is a wonderful marshmallow playdough recipe that's perfect for a Dr. Seuss party or just to make and enjoy while reading his famous book by the same name. Add candy fish for extra fun.

what to make with playdough ideas - one fish two fish playdough activity



Learning Your Name Playdough Puzzle

Using playdough and letter stamps is a fun and engaging way to learn your name. This activity from Growing Book by Book is terrific for helping kids recognise and reinforce the spelling of their names before they start writing it.

Learning your name playdough activity for preschoolers


Playdough Sensory Bag

Playdough can be great for babies, too, when it's presented carefully. Take this Playdough Sensory Bag for Babies by Simple Fun for Kids, for instance. Your baby can push, squish, and squeeze the bag (with lots of supervision) to enjoy the squishy feel of the playdough.

Playdough sensory bag for babies playdough activity

 

Playdough Baby Turtles

What a fun invitation to play! This Baby Turtle Playdough Activity by Barley and Birch encourages kids to use playdough and other materials to make baby turtles. Provide pictures of different kinds of turtles for smaller children to model their turtles after.

what to make with playdough ideas - baby turtle playdough activity



Excavating Dinosaurs from Playdough

Try Excavating Dinosaur Eggs with this cool activity from School Time Snippets. If you have toy dinos and some playdough, you have everything you need for this fab sensory activity that teaches kids about dinosaurs and reptilian eggs.

Excavating dinosaurs from playdough activity for kids

 

Watermelon Playdough Counting

Watermelon Kool-Aid makes this Watermelon Playdough by Sugar Spice and Glitter smell incredible. Add it to a watermelon-shaped bowl or to an empty watermelon hull along with some black beans, which serve as seeds. Kids can scoop the playdough like real melon as well as count "seeds." 

Watermelon counting playdough activity



Pin this list of playdough activities, so you'll have boredom buster playdough ideas ready to go in a pinch next time your child asks what to make with playdough. Don't forget to check out our homemade playdough recipes too. 


Playdough activities for kids. What to make with playdough.


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