Playdough Activities For Kids With Fun Ideas To Play & Learn

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Looking for some fun playdough activities? Here are lots of ideas with playdough for kids to build, create, learn and play.

Updated January 2025

Homemade playdough offers endless possibilities for play and remains a favorite art material that our kids return to time and time again.

Maybe you’d like some fun ideas with playdough for your kids to explore.

Here’s a list packed full of playdough activities for toddlers and preschoolers to build, play and learn with playdough. We guarantee you’ll find lots of fun ideas to try with your kids.

Check out this video full of creative playdough ideas, and then keep scrolling for even more fun ideas.

And don’t miss The Artful Parent go-to homemade playdough: our cooked recipe for playdough and our no cook recipe.

Toddler Play Ideas with Playdough

1. Playdough poke-ins to make all kinds of prickly creatures. Try toothpicks, straws, pipe cleaners, marker caps, googly eyes––all are fun to press in for kids.

2. Playdough dress up with plastic toys (from Redviolet Studio). Gather up some plastic animals and kids can give them a whole new look!

3. Rolling snakes is fun but how about these adorable snails? (from Mother Natured)

4. Stamp playdough (from Little Mainer Art Studio)

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• 15 Amazing Clay Projects for Kids
• How to Do Blow Painting with Straws
• 12 Watercolor Art Ideas for Kids

5. Playdough sculptures + loose parts (from Redviolet Studio)

6. Learn to use scissors with this playdough activity for toddlers (from Modern Preschool)

7. Pretend play animal setup (from Little Mainer Art Studio)

Preschool Play Ideas with Playdough

1. Open a bakery! Set out muffin tins, rolling pins, cookie cutters, pony beads/sequins & candles.

2. Create an adorable cactus garden (from Redviolet Studio)

3. Play chef (from Creation Space)

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4. Build playdough volcanoes and create eruptions with baking soda & vinegar!

5. Set up a playdough play tray for small world play

6. These playdough pizzas are cute enough to eat (from Nurture Store)

7. Build playdough towers with pasta (from Redviolet Studio)

Playdough Activities for Kindergartners

1. Make apple pie playdough.

2. Write messages in playdough (from Little Mainer Art Studio)

3. And another fun alphabet stamping option (from Kindergarten Works)

4. Sculpt scenes with playdough on a tray (from CreationSpace)

5. Explore the layers of our planet with colorful Earth balls.

6. Build spaghetti towers by stringing beads on dried spaghetti (from Glitter on a Dime)

7. Create pictures in playdough with LEGO prints

Ideas for Homemade Playdough

1. Add in a beautiful nature element with petal playdough!

2. Whip up a batch of edible play doh.

3. Try one of our homemade playdough recipes.

4. Make your playdough glow with this recipe (from TinkerLab)

5. Make galaxy playdough & add in space toys (from Redviolet Studio)

6. Mix your own natural dyes into playdough (from The Imagination Tree)

Playdough Gift Ideas

Kids love playdough for gifts and it’s so fun to create playdough kits by season, holiday or based on your child’s interest.

1. Here’s how to make a playdough snowman for winter time.

2. Make some Christmas playdough that looks like candy canes!

3. Make a DIY bake shop kit with playdough.

Want even more Sensory Exploration fun?

Check out our Sensory Creativity Pack!

This 30-page printable eBook is stuffed full of sensory play fun! An ultimate guide to sensory play, complete with our favorite recipes and tips for success!

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