A jar of play dough doesn't need to arrive with a whole box of accessories. We like the idea of clearing a little space, putting the dough on the table and seeing what shape it takes before deciding what you're making. A lump can stay a lump for a while. It can also become a long winding line, then turn back into a lump five minutes later.
Here are three places to start, using the same dough and a small set of suitable tools. You can follow one idea for the whole session or wander between them.
First, a few details about this dough
Oh Eco's play dough is made in small batches and comes in a 9-ounce glass jar, with red, blue and green options. It's recommended for ages three and up and contains gluten. An adult should manage the glass jar; the dough is a play material, not something to eat, even though it's made with food-grade ingredients.
Set it out on a suitable protected surface with tools that fit the child and the activity. Keep the ingredient information with the jar so another grown-up has it too. Then you can give the making itself most of your attention.
Make a small collection of shapes
Start with a few generous pieces of dough. Round one, flatten another, leave a third somewhere in between, and put them beside each other. You might notice that a shape looks like something. You might just like the way the edges meet.
If you're joining in, make your own shape alongside the others. That leaves room to show another possibility without taking over someone else's piece. A row of uneven shapes is a perfectly reasonable place to finish, or you can squash the whole collection together and begin again.
Follow a line until it becomes something
Roll a broad line of dough and give it a curve. Keep curling it inward for a loose spiral, or let it travel across the table as a winding path. Make another line, shorter or longer, and see how the two sit together.
This is a nice activity to leave open. The path can belong to an imagined story, the curve can suggest a letter, or it can simply be a curve. There's no need to add tiny decorations to make it count as finished.
Arrange the colors before mixing them
If you have more than one color, put a few large pieces next to one another and try a pattern. Move one piece. Change the order. Flatten one and leave its neighbor rounded.
We'd pause before combining all the colors, just long enough to ask whether the person using them wants to keep them separate. Once they're mixed, pulling them apart again may not be possible. Mixing can be part of the activity too; it just helps when it's a choice.
Leave it ready for another day
Gather the dough, follow the maker's storage and cleanup directions, and keep the tools nearby. It makes the next start a little easier when you don't have to go looking for everything again.
If you're choosing which material to bring home, our powdered finger-paint guide and modular-stamping guide describe two different kinds of making. For a present, there's also our creative-gift guide. Think about the space and cleanup the household has room for, as well as the thing you'd enjoy giving them.
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