The Science Behind Playdough
Playdough is a fun activity that provides excellent sensory stimulation, but are there actual therapeutic benefits? This blog discusses ways to create your own playdough and how it provides essential developmental skills related to social, emotional, physical, and more!
The Process
First, let’s tackle the process of making at-home playdough.
The Science
Playdough can facilitate the opportunity for a child to practice key developmental skills.
Develops Fine Motor Skills
Playdough can help your child’s fine motor skills (hand and finger manipulation) as they play with the dough. This activity strengthens finger muscles as a child is grasping, pinching, rolling, or squishing the playdough. Fine motor skills are essential for daily life and school performance, as children use the same muscles to write their names or button their pants (NAEYC, n.d.; Playgroup, 2023; Shrier, 2017).
Emotional regulation
Digging into playdough can also help with a child’s emotional regulation, providing a calming distraction or sensory stimulation for the sensory-seeking kiddos through proprioception (deep touch). Sometimes, a child displays strong feelings that need to be released! Does the kiddo need more input? Like using rolling pins, cups, bowls, etc. to push down and facilitate more proprioceptive input than just the hands. Playdough can provide that frustration or stress relief. Playdough can also help get some built-up energy out. If you feel your child “never runs out of energy,” pull out the playdough for a contained and effective way to release that tension (NAEYC, n.d.; Playgroup, 2023).
Increase Self-Esteem
Playing with playdough can increase a child’s feeling of self-competence and autonomy as they see a creation they worked hard to make. Even something as simple as the realization that “I am good at building a house” or “Mom, Dad, look what I made!” Playdough creates an environment for the child to be proud of what they created. Building self-esteem at a young age is critical for healthy emotional development and creates a solid foundation for the future (NAEYC, n.d.; Playgroup, 2023; Shrier, 2017). A child’s self-esteem can improve performance in school tasks, at-home expectations, and group activities (Nemours Kid’s Health, 2023). A child’s self-esteem can further improve as they share their creations with peers, and double as practice for social skills (Two birds, one stone!!) Developing the foundation for self-esteem as a young child can cause significant long-term effects on adolescent and adulthood mental health (Henriksen et al., 2017), such as anxious and depressive symptoms, or issues with relationships (CMHC, 2023).
Encourages creativity
Any play can provide an excellent opportunity for creativity and imaginative fun. Playdough is a fantastic option for imaginative play. A child can mold playdough into a piece of pizza, a castle, or anything else they see fit! Additionally, playdough can provide symbolic thinking as they pretend the playdough is something else (NAEYC, n.d.; Playgroup, 2023; Shrier, 2017). Symbolic thinking is a critical skill developed around 18 months but lasts throughout their entire life (Illinois Early Learning Project, 2012). Richer symbolic thinking leads a child to have more vital problem-solving, word comprehension, and social skills (Carlson et al., 2008; Illinois Early Learning Project, 2012). Developing problem-solving skills allows a child to be more adaptable and creative. Additionally, words are coated in symbolic thinking and phrases, so understanding symbolic text can increase a child’s communication skills.
Improve social skills
Social Skills can be practiced and improved when a child is in a social environment. While engaging with playdough, children practice skills of taking turns and sharing (with different materials and utensils), advocating their needs (asking for specific utensils or asking for help), and cooperating with others (working together to create an object). Furthermore, children use non-verbal communication when playing with playdough (AppliedBehaviorAnalysisEdu, 2023)- consciously or subconsciously! These skills are important for both social and general development (NAEYC, n.d.; Playgroup, 2023; Shrier, 2017).
However, playdough isn’t just for the littles. 4 and 5-year-olds (and even older) can also benefit from playing with playdough. At this stage, a child has a stronger sense of imaginative play and social skills, so combining these skills, children can create entire worlds while playing. This could be pretending to own their own bakery or a toy shop (Shrier, 2017)
Hand-eye coordination
Not only are a child’s fine motor skills getting some good practice while playing with playdough, but they are also strengthening their hand-eye coordination skills! Playdough encourages children to match hand and eye movements. Providing the child with other materials to use, such as spoons, playdough cutters, pencils, etc., can increase the child’s benefit due to the materials' various shapes and textures.
Check out the SENSE-ational Spaces shop page to learn about various ways to play with playdough.
Literacy and numeracy skills
Playdough is a secret weapon for practicing literacy and numeracy skills. Children are just playing- but are they? Playdough can facilitate the development of these skills by listening to others' vocabulary, such as when a peer says split as they cut their playdough in half. They can also practice their own vocab skills while playing.
Parents, teachers, or anyone supervising the play can assist in the growth of these skills. Adults can ask children to create certain letters, shapes, numbers, or different quantities of things. You can also ask the child questions such as “What color are you going to use?” and “What shape are you making?” or combine the two and ask, “Can you make a green square?” Playdough mats can be a great way to increase the engagement of literacy and numeracy skills (NAEYC, n.d.; Playgroup, 2023; Shrier, 2017).
Watch for an upcoming blog, The Science Behind Playdough Mats!
If you're looking for an edible playdough option, click here to visit the recipe post on our Instagram page
References
AppliedBehaviorAnalysisEdu. (2023). 6 Strategies for encouraging a non-verbal child to communicate.
https://www.appliedbehavioranalysisedu.org/6-strategies-for-encouraging-a-non-verbal-child-to-communicate/
Carlson, S. M., & Zelazo, P. D. (2008). Symbolic Thought. In Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood Development (Vol. 1-3, pp.
288-297). Elsevier Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012370877-9.00158-4
Council and Mental Health Center, CMHC (2023). Self-esteem. The University of Texas at Austin.
https://cmhc.utexas.edu/selfesteem.html#:~:text=Low%20self%2Desteem%20can%20have,with%20friendships%20and%20romantic%20relationships
Henriksen, I. O., Ranøyen, I., Indredavik, M. S., & Stenseng, F. (2017). The role of self-esteem in the development of psychiatric
problems: a three-year prospective study in a clinical sample of adolescents. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 11, pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-017-0207-y
Illinois Early Learning Project. (2012). Domain 4: Symbolic Thought. https://illinoisearlylearning.org/ielg/symbolic/
National Association for the Education of Young Children, NAEYC. (n.d.). Playdough power. https://www.naeyc.org/our-
work/families/playdough-power
Nemours Kid’s Health. (2023, September). Your child’s self-esteem. The Nemours Foundation. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/self-
esteem.html#:~:text=Self%2Desteem%20helps%20kids%20do,time%20standing%20up%20for%20themselves.
Playgroup (2023). 6 Benefits of Playing with Playdough. https://www.playgroupwa.com.au/6-benefits-of-playing-with-
playdough/#:~:text=Playdough%20builds%20strength%20in%20your,a%20pencil%20and%20using%20scissors.
Shrier, C. (2017, January 6). Purpose of playing with play dough. Michigan State University Extension.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/purpose_of_playing_with_play_dough