We LOVE playdough at my house! It is one of the most often played with sensory materials at my house. The kids are just happy to sit down with playdough and their playdough scissors.
When I have time I love to find new and fun ways to let them explore with playdough. If we can add a little learning in there, all the better.
That is what I did today. I set them up with a Strawberry Patch Counting Game. And if you know me, you know I made a fresh batch of Strawberry Rhubarb Playdough first. The smell of strawberries was a must to me for our counting game. I love scented playdough. It makes the house smell good while we play. Red playdough would work great too.
Our Setup:
I laminated green paper with lines drawn down the middle. Super simple “Strawberry Patch”. I then printed out a sign to hang up and cut up green pipe cleaners.
I sat the playdough, pipe cleaners, and playdough mat on the table. We then found one of our giant foam dice we got at the dollar tree last year.
How we played:
I let my son roll the dice. Whatever number he got we counted out and made that many strawberries for his strawberry patch. We rolled little balls of the strawberry playdough and then poked the green pipe cleaners down in them. We lined up as many as we could in the rows of his ” strawberry patch”.
I did this activity with my 3yr this day and he LOVED it. He really got excited about counting. This was also a great time to go over the color red and green as well as explain to him strawberries are a fruit that grow from the ground in strawberry patches.
I reminded him of the time we went to pick fresh strawberries and how the farm looked. He is now ready to go back and pick more. He will have to wait until next year now but I enjoyed picking our own berries too. My 5yr and I will have to try it another day. He was too busy with dad this day for me and little brother.
My 5 year old and I can count and do some simple math with this learning activity. I love finding fun activities that both my older boys or all my boys can enjoy. This is one of them. We hope you can enjoy this idea too!
*My go to playdough recipe can be found here: How to Make: White Glitter Playdough Recipe.
For the Strawberry Rhubarb Playdough I just left out the glitter and added red food coloring and the scent I bought online.
* Sign I made below.
More playdough play we love:
thanks for having me over!