Playdough Pasta and Straws - Toddler Sensory & Small Muscle Exercise

What I love most about playdough is the toddler educational benefits.  Playdough is probably the number one way to play to strengthen those small muscles in little fingers.  While they are molding and smooshing and manipulating the playdough, those little toddler finger muscles are getting a workout.  And strong finger muscles are needed to hold a pencil properly and control it and write.  Who knew playdough was so amazing, right?

You can set up the scenario at the table for your kiddo.  I started with a glob of playdough and poked 3 thin straws into the glob.  Roo immediately knew what to do, but if your toddler needs help, you can model what they are supposed to do.  Fit the pasta onto the straw and let it slide down.  Repeat again and again.  Toddlers learn through repetition.  You may go bored with it, but a while a toddler is exploring, they are learning.

This activity held Roo (who is 21 months) for about 30 minutes.  That's a looong time in toddler time!  Let your kiddo experiment and play until their attention span wears thin.  It could be 2 minutes.  It could be 22 minutes. 

Have a fun and playful day
Mel