Never underestimate the power of Play-Doh, especially for little boys who learn best by using their hands. Let’s face it,Play-Doh is a lot of fun! It’s squishy and soft and able to be maneuvered into any shape imaginable. So, why not use it as a learning tool?
My 5 year old will resist doing school work because he sees a lot of it as pretty boring stuff. But put a ball of Play-Doh in his hands, and school work is the furthest thing from his mind. Then, challenge him to make the letters of the alphabet with his Play-Doh, and you’ve got a fun game on your hands! Better yet, ask him to add different beginning letters to endings such as “at” or “ag” … and make a game out of seeing how many different words he can create!
When it’s all said and done, he has had a whole lesson in phonics while PLAYING. And ya know what the best part is? Spending time together, and having a lot of fun doing so.
What are some ways that you make school time feel a lot like play time?
(Originally posted on my blog, Home For Heaven’s Sake, in October 2008.)
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This is excellent! Our nine year old who is dyslexic would benefit from this sugnifigantly!
Thanks for sharing!
Oh, wow. We painted letters and words, drew them in sand and shaving cream, but it never, ever occurred to me to just make them out of playdoh.
One of my boys would have absolutely LOVED it. Math, the same thing.
It’s bad enough I’ve been in baby-wishing mode lately… is this strange feeling preschooler-wishing?
Playdough makes everything more fun!!! (well, except vacumming.) I love this idea!
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