Recreate play opportunities in your home with the following:
Play dough can provide stimulating play experience for children across a wide age range. It helps your child to develop and explore their senses while playing. Sit with your child and talk about the texture, or shapes you have made. Encourage your child to develop hand-eye coordination with cutters and rolling.
1 cup of flour
1 cup of water
½ a cup of salt
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
Place all ingredients into a saucepan on a low to medium heat
Stir until the mixture bonds into a dough
If you would like to make your play dough coloured add a little food colouring, glitter or some children’s paint to the mixture whilst in the pan. If you would like to add an interesting smell add some peppermint essence or grated orange peel.
As long as you store your homemade play dough in an airtight container it can last for up to one month.
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Coloured rice is very easy to create and will provide your child with an exciting new material to explore. Coloured rice promotes all your child’s sensory development as well as helping with mathematical development and fine motor skills. It can be a play alone or social activity that provides hours of fun.
Uncooked rice
Food colouring
Stir some food colouring in with a packet of uncooked rice. Place the rice evenly on a baking tray and cook in the oven on a low heat until rice has almost dried off.
Make sure that you keep a watchful eye over it as rice can begin to burn very quickly.
Place on a tray or in a large container (like a washing up bowl) and provide your child with small plastic pots and scoops to play with the rice (like wooden spoons, empty yoghurt pots ).
If you would like to create this activity on a large scale fill a sand or water tray with the rice and let them use buckets and spades to explore with.
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Coloured spaghetti is very enjoyable to play with. It can be used to help your child’s understanding of weight and volume, it can increase language skills, encourage exploration of textures and enhance hand and eye co-ordination.
One packet of spaghetti
Food colouirng
Baby shampoo (optional)
Boil a packet of spaghetti in a pan of water with a little food colouring in until it is soft.
Cool off the cooked spaghetti in a colander by running it under cold tap water.
Mix in a little baby shampoo or a liquid that will be gentle on your child’s skin to create a slime effect.
Place the spaghetti in a large container (washing up bowl or large saucepan and give your child some different size plastic pots, plastic spoons and forks or some child safe scissors to explore the spaghetti with.
Please note: This is a good activity to play with outside. If playing inside it might be wise to protect your floor from mess by laying newspaper or an old card board box under the container of spaghetti. Your might need to wear an apron to protect clothing.
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This page last updated: 14/03/2006