Leave It In Their Hands

Roll, squish, mix, flatten, shape… Play-Doh is a fun educational toy that not only fosters creativity but also develops critical learning skills

What child (and parent!) doesn’t love moulding creations out of Play-Doh? It’s no surprise that over 430 million kilogrammes, or more than 2 billion cans, of Hasbro’s Play-Doh, have been squished and squashed since 1956. But there’s so much more to this toy than simple play.

Play-Doh is an ideal tool to encourage development of fine motor coordination and can also provide opportunities to cultivate the skills associated with the four Cs: Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity. These essential skills set the scene for discovering the world in an innovative and non-prescriptive way, and help young children navigate their immediate environment.

Engaging children (especially ages 2 to 5 years) with sensory, imaginative, open-ended play activities can help prepare them for learning and development in an educational setting. Fostering creativity, being able to think out of the box, brainstorming, generating new ideas and improving on existing ones are important tools for young minds.

At its core, Play-Doh is creativity: providing endless interactive play options. Guide your child to explore different shapes, forms and colours, which increases curiosity and knowledge while developing their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. It’s also great for kids who are sensitive to textures.

Play-Doh allows children the flexibility to experiment and develop their own stories—and leads to innovative, imaginative thinking and increased confidence down the line.