It’s not quite time to color Easter Eggs, but the kids can’t wait so we’re having some Easter egg and bunny play dough fun. Great for hands and paws.
This activity can use either ready-made or home-made play dough. Plasticine is stiffer to use until it warms up but it will keep indefinitely. While any color is usually acceptable for kids, they may like more than one color to make designs on eggs.
Somewhere in all the cutters, there is a bunny and a chick. The flower was easy to find. The girls flattened the playdough with a rolling pin and used some of the cutters. Big Sister made an egg with the plasticine and added some stripes. So the bunny would have something to eat, she also shaped a few carrots and added some green to the top.
Rolling a long snake or shape is one of the first things kids do with playdough. To make a basket, kids make a flat circle and add the snake or rope around the edge. They keep adding more and more on top of each other, round and round. Many rows of different colors make a bright, cheery basket. Getting a handle to stick might need help from adult hands. The one in this photo has a rolled paper tube to make it more rigid.
The motor control for fine, small movements is still developing at this age. Kids need lots of activities to strengthen the muscles in the fingers, wrists, and hands. Playdough is an ideal material for this. It also gives kids an opportunity to be creative.
Big Sister added more details than Little Sister who mostly liked to roll, squish, pat, and cut. Playdough let both of them play at different levels and how they wanted. There was a fair amount of conversation and some interaction as they talked about what they were doing and shared materials.
Could some Easter egg and bunny play dough fun be your child’s play-of-the-day?