It’s really hard getting the children back into the swing of things in January. They have got used to a holiday full of treats and lie ins and getting them back into learning mode can be hard. Now is a particularly good time for fun learning activities which aren’t a struggle. Play dough is probably my favourite tool for a bit of stealth teaching. Most kids love it and you can add a few letter shaped cookie cutters and they are learning without realising it.
I made a particularly printed rose scented play dough for the twins but any play dough works well. I have collected a quite a few letter manipulatives over the past few years and these letter shaped candles are one of our favourites. They are meant for birthday cakes but they go so well with play dough.
This was one of the activities I used while the twins were learning to spell their names. Even though they can both spell their names now they still love this activity. It is really good for improving fine motor skills. Of course you have to be careful of the sharp stick.
The play dough has a lot of glitter in it which adds to the fun.
Once you’ve learnt your name then this is useful for learning to spell or read any word. High frequency words are good as you don’t need to have many letters. You can just give them a pile of letters and they can make their own words.
If you liked this idea then you might like to my post on play dough numbers. Also make sure you are following my Fun Education Ideas and Play Dough boards on Pinterest.
