playdough stations

Having taste safe sensory play recipes creates a wonderful opportunity for toddlers and preschoolers to create. With just 3 ingredients, this pudding playdough is easy to make and it’s completely edible.Kids can mould and shape to their heart’s content. It’s such a fun activity.

We love creating taste safe sensory play recipes like our Edible Shark Fluffy Slime, Condensed Milk Edible Paint, or Edible Freezie Painting.

Pudding Playdough Recipe:

Supplies needed:

• ¼ cup vanilla flavored instant pudding mix (note: if you purchase the 3.4 oz. box, you will have some left over to make a second batch)
• 1 cup cornstarch
• ⅓ cup warm water
• mixing bowl
• mixing spoon
• candy sprinkles (optional)
• cookie cutters (optional)

Instructions:

1. Add the pudding mix to the mixing bowl.
2. Add half of the corn starch to the bowl.
3. Pour in the water.
4. Stir to mix the dough.
5. Add in the other half of the corn starch.
6. Mix well.
7. Finish by kneading the dough with your hands until you get the desired consistency. The dough should feel soft to the touch when you start mixing and should not be sticky.
8. If you find that your dough is sticky, add more corn starch.

If you want, you can add the candy sprinkles to the dough.

Your child can play with the playdough on the table or on a plastic play mat for easy cleanup.

You can set out cookie cutters to add a fine motor element to the playdough station.

When done playing, store any leftover dough in an airtight container in the fridge.

Sensory Benefits:

The dough naturally smells of vanilla because of the vanilla pudding mix, so there are many sensory elements to this playdough. It gives tactile (touch), olfactory (smell), proprioceptive from the squeezing and squishing of the dough, and gustatory (taste) sensory input. 

Why use taste safe playdough?

The high salt content in regular playdough can be dangerous when eaten. For young children who are at that age and stage of putting everything in their mouths or for older kids who have a hard time understanding not to eat the dough, taste safe dough provides a wonderful alternative.The ingredients are ones that you may already have in your pantry which is another benefit to choosing to make this edible pudding play dough.

Variations on this pudding playdough recipe:

• Use lemon pudding mix, chocolate pudding mix, or butterscotch pudding mix to change the flavour and the colour.

Looking for more awesome sensory play recipes for kids? You can grab a free sample chapter of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook here.

Check out some of our other taste-safe play recipes:

Condensed Milk Paint

Shark Fluffy Slime

Playdough is one of my favourite sensory materials. It lends itself well to all kinds of fine motor practise and leaning opportunities. As you may know by now, learning through sensory play is something I am a big advocate for. This apple tree colour and counting playdough game is a great example of that.This easy activity is suitable for preschoolers who are just learning these concepts or even for children in Kindergarten or early elementary to help reenforce colour and counting concepts.

Apple Tree Colour and Counting Playdough Game:

Supplies needed:

• red, yellow, green, and brown playdough (you can use store bought or make your own)
• number dice
• colour dot dice

Directions:

1. Form the trunk of the tree using brown playdough by rolling it into a long rope. If you don’t have brown playdough, you can mix equal parts orange and blue playdough to create kind of a grey-brown. 
2. Tear off sections of the green playdough and flatten them out. These will form the leaves of the tree.
3. Invite your child to place the leaves on the tree trunk.
4. Have your child roll small balls of yellow, red, and green playdough. These will be the apples.
5. Set out one colour dot dice and one standard number dice.
6. Have the child roll both dice.
7. Encourage them to count the number on the dice and name the colour shown on the other dice.
8. The child can then add that number of “apples” to the tree in the colour that was rolled.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

Through the tearing, shaping, rolling, and squeezing of the playdough, the visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory systems are engaged.

Kids get fine motor practise by shaping the small “apples” and carefully placing them on the tree.

This playdough game is a great way to learn or reenforce colours as the child matches what is rolled on the colour block dice to the coloured balls. 

Early math skills are worked on both by counting up the numbers on the dice and by counting out the corresponding amount of balls to place on the apple tree.

If more than one child plays this game at a time, it can also work on social skills such as turn taking and encouragement. 

Vocabulary and communication are also improved in children by playing games such as these.

Colour Dot DiceRegular DicePlay-Doh Modelling Compound

 

Get a set of free printable alphabet playdough mats by entering your email address below. You’ll also be signed up to receive our email series Sensory Activities and Solutions.
You may also be interested in these playdough activities:

Rainbow Colour and Counting Playdough Game

Rainbow Playdough Fine Motor Activity

Transportation Alphabet Playdough Mats (free)

With the new Peter Rabbit movie coming out soon, we thought it would be cute to set out a Peter Rabbit Playdough invitation to play for the kids. This playdough tray evokes imagination. Your child can explore and create scenes and stories.

This sensory play activity is engaging and a wonderful learning opportunity. If your child has seen the movies or read the books, they can recreate scenes or they can just use their imaginations to build their own Peter Rabbit world. They can then act out scenarios with the characters.

Using the playdough, they can create a garden or a field and have the characters interact with each other. This activity is cute for any time, but it would be especially appropriate for Spring or Easter time.

Peter Rabbit Playdough Recipe:

Supplies:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• green food gel
• 1 cup water (boiling if making with KitchenAid)
• optional: a few drops of peppermint essential oil*

*a note about choosing a playdough scent: Some scents are calming while others are alerting. Peppermint is an alerting scent. This is great if you are wanting kids to stay focused. If you want this activity to be a calming one, be sure to choose a more calming scent.

KitchenAid Directions:

1. Put the dry ingredients into your KitchenAid mixer.
2. Add the oil and colour and begin mixing on low with the flat beater.
3. As it is mixing on the lowest setting, pour in the boiling water.
4. If you want to scent the playdough, add a few drops of essential oil in peppermint or the scent of your choice. Mix until it is the texture you want.
5. Store in an airtight container or resealable bag when not being played with.

Stovetop Directions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a pot and stir in the oil, water and the food colouring.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring, being sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the pot.
3. Cook until the dough forms a ball. Remove from heat.
4. Place dough on a piece of wax paper. Knead. If you want, add a few drops of essential oils for scent.
5. Allow to cool. Store the playdough in an airtight container or resealable bag.

Peter Rabbit Playdough Sensory Station:

Supplies:

• plastic tray with separated compartments
• playdough (make the recipe above or you can purchase it)
• twigs
• rocks
• wood slices
• plastic trees
• small Peter Rabbit figurines
• fruits and vegetables Toob

Peter Rabbit Poseable FiguresFruits & Vegetables ToobPlay-doh-resealable Green

Directions:

1. Set the green playdough in the middle compartment in the tray.
2. Place all the other items in the compartments around it.
3. Invite your child to explore, play, and create.

This activity is so sensory rich. Kids engage their visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory systems when they are squishing, moulding, sculpting, shaping, rolling, and pressing the dough and the other items in the invitation to play. If scented playdough is used, then they are also engaging their olfactory sensory system.

Are you looking for other easy sensory play recipes? Join us for a free five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Check out some of our other playdough invitation to play activities:

White Snow Playdough

Nativity Playdough Invitation to Play

Valentine’s Playdough Center

Playdough offers so many opportunities for great sensory play. Create dinosaur fossils in playdough to accompany a dinosaur unit study or just for fun.

This simple activity which also gives fine motor skill practise is great for preschools or home. For older kids, it can be a good way to involve sensory into a unit study.

Dinosaur Fossil Playdough Activity:

Supplies needed:

• dinosaur skull fossils
• playdough (store bought or homemade)
• toy rolling pin or if you don’t have one, a regular rolling pin (in a pinch, you can use the empty playdough can!)
• optional: other playdough tools

Directions:

1. Invite your child to roll out the playdough.
2. Set out the dinosaur fossils.
3. Encourage your child to press the Dino skulls into the playdough and carefully remove them. This will create a fossil impression.
4. Another way to use this activity is to have the kids create the impressions and then match the dinosaur skulls up like a puzzle.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

Kids get proprioceptive feedback by pressing into the dough and from rolling it out. They also get input from the visual and tactile systems with this activity. If using scented playdough, the olfactory system will also be engaged.

If you are doing a unit study on fossils or dinosaurs, this is an easy and relevant hands-on activity to accompany that.

Are you looking for other easy to create sensory play ideas? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Other great hands-on activities for a dinosaur unit study:

Dino Slime

Dinosaur Fossil Sensory Bin

Gross Motor Action Cube (dinosaur theme)

Dinosaur Sensory Bottle