It is the perfect time to get creative with some summer play dough activities that toddlers and lids will love. Play dough is one of the best ways to keep little hands busy and their minds engaged! This versatile, colorful material is not only fun but also helps with sensory development, fine motor skills, and most impotantly creativity.
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Why Play Dough is Perfect for Summer Fun
Play dough isn’t just a colorful, squishy substance that kids of all ages love. Play dough is a powerful educational. It can keep little minds entertained and busy for hours, and builds strong language development. You can literally use play dough to create any kind of picture, adventure, shape, letters and so much more. During the summer, kids have more free time so using play dough can easily become an essential part of daily activities. It’s mess-free, easy to store, and can be used both indoors and outdoors.
Here are some fun summer play dough activities for you and your family to enjoy!
1. Ice Cream Parlor Play
What’s summer with out some ice cream? So of course you have to create a summer play dough ice cream parlor. All you need is different colored play dough to represent various flavors. You can use an ice cream kit that comes with different variations of ice cream themed things to create with your play dough. You can also use things you may have around the house such as small scoops to make play dough ice cream balls, and provide cones or cups for serving. Toddlers can mix and match colors to create their favorite ice cream sundaes. Add beads or small buttons as sprinkles for extra fun!
2. Under the Sea Play Dough Adventure
Use blue play dough to create an ocean base and add seashells, plastic sea creatures, and even some sand for texture. Encourage your toddler to make their own sea creatures using different colors of play dough and the play dough creators. This activity can be both fun and educational as you teach them about different marine animals. You can also find pre made play dough sea creatures sensory boxes to use.
3. Summer Play Dough Flower Garden
Set up a flower garden using green play dough for the grass and various colors for flowers. Provide small sticks or straws for stems and let your toddler create their own beautiful garden. You can even incorporate real flower petals for an added sensory experience. You can also use wooden play dough tools to help create the flowers.
4. Summer Beach Day Play Dough Fun
Bring the beach to your home with a play dough beach scene. Use brown or beige play dough to make sand and blue for the water. Add small beach toys like mini buckets, shovels, and umbrellas. Let your toddler create sandcastles, beach balls, and even tiny beach towels out of play dough. They can also use play dough cut outs for more play dough summer beach fun!
5. Picnic Play Dough Summer Fun
Organize a pretend picnic with play dough food. Create fruits, sandwiches, and cookies using different colors of play dough. Use plastic utensils and plates to set up a picnic scene. This activity can help toddlers learn about different foods and improve their pretend play skills.
6. Nature Impressions With Play Dough
Go on a nature walk and collect leaves, flowers, and small sticks. Back at home, press these items into play dough to create beautiful nature impressions. This activity not only engages toddlers but also helps them observe and appreciate the natural world around them.
7. Summer Play Dough Bug Hunt Adventure
Make a bug hunt adventure by creating various bugs out of play dough. Use black and yellow for bees, red and black for ladybugs, and green for caterpillars. For antennas, legs and arms you can use straws that are cut our pipe cleaners. Googly eyes and buttons work too. Fancy up your bug however you see fit! Hide the play dough bugs around your play area and let your toddler go on a bug hunt. This can be a fun way to teach them about different insects. You can even use this bug hunt checklist and see who can find them first. Make it fun and be creative!
Check out more fun play dough summer activities from fantasticfunandlearning.com.
8. Tropical Fruit Play Dough
Introduce your toddler to tropical fruits with this colorful activity. Create playdough versions of fruits like pineapples, mangoes, and bananas. This activity can be a fun way to discuss different fruits and their colors with your child. Using fruit play dough mats can be helpful to teach vocabulary and use the play dough in different ways. Roll it, flatten it, squish it! It also encourages them to use their imagination to create different fruit shapes.
9. Summer Camping Adventure With Play Dough
Set up a mini campsite with play dough. Use green playdough for grass and brown for logs and a campfire. Add tiny plastic tents and camping gear to complete the scene. This activity can help toddlers learn about camping and outdoor adventures, making it an exciting and educational experience.
10. Summertime Snacks Play Dough
Create summertime snacks like popsicles, watermelon slices, and lemonade with play dough. Use bright colors to make the snacks look appealing. This activity can be a fun way to discuss different summertime snacks and their colors with your child. Also a good use of vocabulary and practice the names of fruits. It also encourages them to use their imagination to create different shapes.
Conclusion
Play dough is a fantastic, summer activity. It’s a low-cost way to engage your child in creative and educational play. These summer-themed activities are perfect for sunny days, rainy days, and everything in between. Not only will your child have fun, but they’ll also develop important skills along the way. So, roll up your sleeves and dive into the colorful world of play dough with your toddler this summer!
Here are some more play dough ideas to enjoy with your kids:
25 Best Educational Play Dough Activities
10 Fun Alphabet Activities For Your Toddler
I'm 40 years old and a mom of 2 three year olds and a first grader. I am also a Special education teacher. My passion has always been to help people, which is why I started this blog.