Playing with play dough is great for developing fine motor skills and both of my boys absolutely love playing with it. You can press it, roll it, cut it, stamp it...the possibilities are endless when it comes to play dough!
Over the years, I've made a lot of play dough. And we've done plenty of play dough activities. Usually though we play with play dough on a horizontal surface such as table or tray. And honestly, that isn't terribly exciting after awhile. Sometimes you need to shake things up and try something different though. Or make a simple little tweak like we did.
To switch things up, we went vertical instead of horizontal by placing the play dough on windows. Yes, really. It ended up being a fun new way to explore with play dough and my boys loved it!
So if you're ready to try a new twist on some fine motor skills play dough play, give this simple window art idea a try.
What You'll Need for this Fine Motor Skills Play Dough Window Art Activity
This fine motor activity is quick and easy to put together. You really just need one material. You can probably guess what it is based on the title of this activity (ahem, play dough). But here's a written list of what you'll need anyway:
- Play dough, preferably in at least two different colors - We love this no-cook play dough recipe from The Imagination Tree. It's our favorite!
- A large window - It's window art after all so you kind of need a window, right? It will be the play surface for this play dough activity.
- Cookie cutters (optional) - Your kids might want to cut out specific shapes of play dough to create their art. Or you might want to use them to get better buy-in from your kids (e.g., using alphabet cookie cutters to interest a hyperlexic child). Besides, cookie cutters are a great tool for working on different fine motor skills so they're a nice addition to this activity, if you want. We have this cookie cutter set.
Once you have the materials gathered, you can create an invitation to play like I did if you'd like. Simply place some of the play dough on the window, modeling how to use the materials to create window art. Then see if your kids would like to join you.
Play dough sticks to windows when a slight bit of pressure is applied. It will, however, leave your windows a bit cloudy and dirty looking when the kids are done playing. I simply gave my boys a spray bottle of water and a cloth and they happily cleaned up the mess afterwards.
Using Play Dough on Windows is a Great Way to Build Fine Motor Skills with Kids!
My oldest, J, loved to rip off small pieces of play dough and press them into little "dots" on the window. It's a good way to work on finger isolation!
Sometimes he would peel off his play dough "dots" and move them around. It's also a good way to work on pincer grasp.
Depending on how much play dough is used and how hard it is pressed against the window, the natural light will stream through. The play dough does become semi-transparent in places, as you can see below.
Both of my boys also loved experimenting with sticking large blobs of play dough to the window. It sticks pretty well too. K, my youngest, really enjoyed cutting the play dough on the vertical surface using a plastic play dough tool.
Play dough is great for fine motor skills practice, as you can see with this activity. Plus, playing with play dough on a vertical surface is new and exciting. My boys ended up having a blast with this activity! Here's my favorite photo of the activity.
More Art Ideas for Working on Fine Motor Skills with Kids
This play dough window art activity is part of the monthly Light & Reflections series where a few bloggers get together to share fun ways for kids to explore and learn using light and mirrors. Some activities might use natural light and others mirrors or light tables. The theme for this month was art. Here are the other art ideas from this month's series:
No Mess Painting for Toddlers on the Light Table from Happily Ever Mom
Sand Art on the Light Table from Still Playing School
Glue Art on the Light Table from Where Imagination Grows
You can also find more fine motor activities here if you need more inspiration beyond play dough.
But, hopefully, you'll give this fine motor skills play dough window art activity a try. It's super simple to set up (just need play dough and a window!) and engaging for kids of all ages.
