How to Make a Montessori Playdough Kit
Playdough is such a fun activitiy for children and we can make it even more enjoyable by putting together a Montessori-inspired playdough kit. A designated and thoughtfully prepared playdough kit offers tools and materials to make playdough time that much more fun! I saw this idea from Nicole Kavanaugh on her Instagram account and have made some adaptions for our home and it has been a huge hit! Let’s dive into more details and how to make a playdough kit for your little one.
What is a Playdough Kit?
A playdough kit is a small currated kit for your child to do playdough. It will have playdough containers and tools to cut, roll out, and texture the playdough. As well as press-ins that offer a fun new element that isn’t often thought of with playdough. These press-ins are fun to change around seasonally as you find new objects.
What Makes it “Montessori”
Montessori activities have a few different elements depending on their aim. However, a common characteristic is that they are prepared with everything the child needs allowing for open-ended exploration. This would be the goal of a playdough kit. Make it accessible and manageable for your child to take out and put away independently. Everything in the kit will have a place, it can be restored to order when your child is done using it to be ready for the next time they want to use it. I always think about how much of something my child is capable of cleaning up independently. Then I only put out that much.
What Do You Include in a Playdough Kit?
The following sections are what I have included in our playdough kit. I will put links to seasonal alternatives so you can change things up throughout the seasons and holidays if you so desire. The dollar store or the dollar spot at Target can be great places to look for small additional materials to add to your playdough kit on a seasonal basis.
Playdough
You definately need playdough for your playdough kit! I like to make homemade playdough. Don’t be intimidated, it is really easy to do and you likely have the things in your pantry right now! Here are some fall-scented playdough recipes or you can leave out the spices to make plain playdough and dye it whatever color you want! Find the recipe here. I love using small condiment containers for storing playdough. They are the perfect size. The one I linked is a similar one, but I have found a 10-pack at the dollar store.
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Rolling Pins
I love these silicone rolling pins. Just a note to you that the design rolling pins are very sturdy and nice but they don’t actually roll, you have to roll it along your playdough.
Cookie cutter
Press-Ins
For this section, I don’t even want to leave any links for you because you don’t need 100 of any of these things! I recommend going to the dollar store or a craft store to find these objects. I will list a few ideas that would be appropriate and fun for your child during different seasons.
Fall
- Mini pumpkins
- Mini leaves
- Mini acorns
- Pinecones
Winter
- Wooden snowflakes
- Plastic snowflakes
- Christmas trees
- Jingle bells
Spring and Summer
- Flowers
- Suns
- Mini drink umbrellas
Valentine’s Day
- Small wooden hearts
- Plastic hearts
When can a toddler start using a Playdough Kit?
We started using our playdough kit with supervision at around 17 months old if I recall. Initially, I just started with playdough and added press-ins when they were out of the mouthing stage. I chose to make homemade playdough as the first introduction to playdough because I knew they wouldn’t like the taste of it at all. It is made with a lot of salt and that did indeed deter them from putting it in their mouth. I also knew what all the ingredients were and it wouldn’t be harmful if they did eat a small amount. You should always supervise your child using their playdough kit.
Seasonal Ideas
As I make new playdough kits, I will update this with ideas and suggestions. I hope you have fun putting together a simple playdough kit for your child! Share your creation in the comments or send me an email at themontessoritwinmama@gmail.com.
Fall Playdough Kit
4th of July
Valentine’s Day
