The DIY Heart Play Dough Activity Tray will keep your preschooler creating and busy! For our February tray, I grabbed a few heart shaped cookie cutters, buttons, gems, and some pom poms. The best part is the lavender play dough…it has a natural, calming scent that keeps kids calm and happy. And, YOU will love that this Valentine's Day activity is EASY to put together!
STRENGTHEN HAND MUSCLES
This Heart Play Dough Activity Tray is a great way to strengthen your child's fine motor skills. All of the smashing, pinching, rolling, and manipulating of the play dough will engage their hand muscles. This is important for mastering tasks like doing buttons, zipping, and holding a pencil properly for writing.
MATERIALS FOR HEART PLAY DOUGH ACTIVITY TRAY
The play dough is the main sensory tool for this sensory activity, so use a homemade recipe like I did, or buy some…either way! If you've never tried making homemade play dough, try this recipe! It's super soft, smells amazing, and it's non-toxic. I added a few drops of lavender essential oil, and purple food coloring to my homemade play dough for a calming, natural scent. For this specific tray, I used heart shaped cookie cutters, buttons, pom poms, and gems. I also found a cute, wooden rolling pin from Hobby Lobby.
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
numbered cards (to practice counting)
glitter (to add to the play dough)
*Use discretion with small objects/choking hazards for those younger kiddos!*
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DIFFERENT KINDS OF PLAY
There are so many different ways to play with the Heart Play Dough Activity Tray:
- comparing sizes of hearts
- making patterns with the buttons and gems
- imaginary play with creating cookies and cakes for a "bakery"
- counting hearts
Be creative, and have fun with it! Check out more of our play dough activity trays HERE!
The Homeschool Resource Library is full of printables and activities created with the busy mom in mind. They require minimal set up and supplies, so that you can print them off on a whim, and keep your eager learner engaged.
