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Is Homemade Playdough an Educational Toy?

Can homemade playdough be considered a learning toy for toddlers and preschoolers? In my opinion it is one of the best educational toys for toddlers. Here’s why:
1.     When making playdough with your child, he is being exposed to early math skills. Measuring, estimatingand numeral awareness are so important. For more information click here. learning toys for 2 year old.

     Cooking the ingredients is a lesson in science. Your little one will be seeing cause and effect. She will be predicting the outcome and asking so many questions: why does it thicken? Why do you need to heat it? Mixing food coloring in the playdough offers another experiment in science. How can you make purple? How about green?
3.     Following the recipe models reading skills and following instructions. It inspires patience and perseverance. For more information click here. best learning toys for 2 year olds & counting games for toddlers.

These 3 reasons alone makehomemade playdough one of the best educational toys for toddlers. But any cooking experience has these benefits. Does playdough offer more? Yes!

Multiple colors of playdough are great for color recognition. Use plastic sorting cups with the playdough and have your child match the playdough to the cups.
4.     Add a bit of sand for tactile awareness or vanilla for the scent. Have your child describe what he smells or feels.

5.     Playdough is great for practicing fine motor skills. Kids will roll, stretch, pull and press the dough with their fingers. This helps develop strength and dexterity. They can use cookie cutters, plastic knives, pizza cutters and child sized scissors to cut the playdough. A small garlic press makes wonderful strings.

6.     Playdough is one of the best preschool learning toys for early math skills. Roll the playdough into balls and count them, then add and subtract. Match the balls to numbers. Put the balls in patterns and sequence. Make playdough snakes and compare lengths; kids will learn math terms like shorter and longer. Use cookie cutters in different shapes, such as triangle, square or rectangle for geometric awareness.
7.     Use the play dough as a construction toys for toddlers. Provide pipe cleaners, straws and Popsicle sticks and watch your child create.

8.     Playdough fosters creativity and imaginative play. My son used playdough to make outlines of roads for his small toy cars. He would work hard on creating a village this way. I never would have thought of that.

9.     Playdough is great for individual play or cooperative play. Put out child sized dishes and kids will soon be involved in pretend play cooking. For more information click here. educational toys for 5 year olds

Playdough is one of my favourite preschool learning toys and teaching toys for toddlers. It is inexpensive, very versatile and provides so many play opportunities. As a caution youngsters need to be supervised so they are not tempted to taste the salty dough.

For more information click here.  learning toys for preschoolers & educational toys for toddlers and preschoolers
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