September 21-24

Playdough

Introducing playdough sequentially—first plain, then with tools—is transforms simple sensory exploration into a targeted developmental exercise. 

Starting with Playdough Alone

When children explore playdough without extra props, they rely entirely on their hands, fingers, and wrists. This type of open-ended exploration:

• Maximizes Direct Fine Motor Work: Pushing, squishing, rolling, pinching, and pulling require intrinsic hand strength. This direct resistance strengthens the muscles needed for holding pencils and using scissors later.

• Fosters Open-Ended Sensory Integration: Children focus fully on the tactile properties—texture, temperature, density, and malleability—without visual clutter or distraction.

• Encourages Pure Creative Thinking: Without predefined tools like cookie cutters dictating what to make, children invent their own shapes and stories, leaning into open-ended, imaginative play.

Adding Tools 

Once children have explored the playdough with their hands, we introduce tools. We began this week with rolling pins and cutters to encourage movement and a combination of gross and fine motor activity. This also allowed us to see the children's strength and force with the tools, which gives us an idea of their overall motor strength. We also decided to integrate wooden sensory pieces once we started to hear ideas and explanations about what the children wanted to create so they had materials to complete the task.

• Introduces Two-Handed Coordination: Tools require complex bilateral integration—such as holding dough steady with one hand while cutting or rolling with the other.

• Refines Hand-Eye Coordination: Purposeful actions, like stamping a specific pattern or placing small beads into dough, require precise control.

• Encourages Problem-Solving and Creativity: Introducing tools gradually prevents play from becoming repetitive and introduces new problem-solving challenges.

Introducing Animal Manipulatives

Exploratory Play allows preschoolers to interact with new materials on their own terms before structured, teacher-led instruction begins. When children are given time to freely manipulate colored animal counters before being asked to sort, count, or make patterns, it lays a great foundation for deeper learning. Allowing them to satisfy this initial sensory and imaginative curiosity ensures that when we introduce a structured task later, they are ready to focus rather than feeling distracted by the urge to play freely. We noticed the children right away began to touch, line up, make animal sounds, or create stories with the manipulatives all on their own, and we followed their lead by acknowledging their explorations and asking questions to further engage with them while they explored. The children also exhibited early math concepts as they sorted the animals, compared and grouped by size and exhibited spatial alignment and awareness as they lined up the animals and arranged the figures by size/height.