Play-Doh is great fun and maybe you’ve wondered about the other benefits of playing with Play-Doh? Well, wonder no more – we’ve identified 10 amazing benefits of getting stuck into Play-Doh.
1. Improve self-esteem
You can poke it, pat it, squash it and squeeze it. There is no right or wrong way to use Play-Doh. so this benefits the child's self-esteem, as they can't 'get it wrong'. Whatever your child produces is a positive achievement.
2. Stimulate imagination
As Play-Doh is a sculpting material, your child has free reign over what their imagination creates. Your child can create whatever you want with Play-Doh – a sausage, a seal or a spider. The most exciting benefit for me is that children can they play with 'toys' they created themselves. How often do our children play with toys that originated from their imagination?
3. Encourage experiments with pressure and texture
The tactile experience of playing with Play-Doh works on many levels with a child's sense of touch. They can create and feel the textures they create, then explore what it's like to apply varying amounts of pressure to create these textures. Play-Doh responds to even the lightest of touch. Even small hands that are still learning a pincer grip can mould something from Play-Doh.
4. Strengthen motor skills
Play-Doh strengthens both fine and gross motor skills and allows them to experiment with gentle and powerful touch. My boys love to stamp on it in their bare feet to squash it flat, who needs a rolling pin?
5. Develop self-expression
Play-Doh is all about self-expression, rather than repression, so it can be really therapeutic for children who find it particularly difficult to sit still.
6. Promotes stress relief
Rather like one of those squeezy stress balls, Play-Doh can be stress relieving for children. The creative process also helps to promote calmness and well being.
7. Improve hand-eye co-ordination
Using tools like the extruder, cutters or scissors supports a child's development of hand-eye co-ordination, which benefits them in all kinds of activities from sports to brushing their teeth.
8. Enrich your child's education
A fun way to build on your child's education is to experiment with mixing colours, making shapes, letters or numbers - the possibilities are limitless.
9. Develop social and communication skills
And that's not all Play-Doh does for your child. Once the child is creating or has completed their project, discussing it with an adult or child, develops their social and communication skills. We hope our Play-Doh Imagination Classes will foster cooperative play, as children share colours or work together to build a creation together, such as layering or decorating a cake.
10. Encompass a wide age range
Play-Doh also appeals to a wide age range of age groups for children, our classes covers ages 2-8 years old.
To enjoy all the amazing benefits of playing with Play-Doh, sign up to the Play-Doh Imagination Classes at a Creation Station near you. and you'll receive:
- Your child's awesome Play-Doh creation to take home
- A Play-Doh activity booklet (whilst stocks last)
- Entry to our Play-Doh competition by sharing with #PlayDohCreation
- A warm fuzzy feeling that you get when your child is doing something that makes them develop, learn and be happy.
To find your closest class all you need to do is leave a comment, email us here, visit our website and put in your postcode, or call Creative Hub hotline on 01395 239 700.
And remember - you could be a winner! Enter our Facebook competition to win yourself a Play-Doh Hamper. Like our Facebook page and post a picture of your Play-Doh creation using the #PlayDohCreation - we're looking forward to seeing what your child creates!
For local classes, parties and events visit www.thecreationstation.co.uk.
If you don't have a Creation Station in your area yet, and you or someone you know would love to run their own rewarding and flexible business find out more about running your own Creation Station,