Written by Rhiannon Seres, Early Childhood Educator and mum to 2 beautiful boys

I love all things messy play for children and playdough is a good go-to when your children are bored. 

 One afternoon I decided to pull out my playdough box of goodies – it had been a while as we had recently made the move from suburbia to the great outdoors, rural life! When I opened up the box I discovered it was a ‘Playdoh’ pre made plastic kit. My 5 year old son was done exploring the kit within 5 minutes and my 10 month old couldn’t explore it as the pieces weren’t age appropriate and the playdoh had gone rock solid. So began my visit to Kmart for a $2 rack splurge for creative playdough tools. I was in absolute heaven .. mini everything and all for a good price.  

When we arrived home I removed all of the labels and packaging and spread it all out on the kids table. I then added some playdough and the boys were engaged for quite some time!! My 5 year old loved using the wooden cutlery I found in the party section, using admirable self help skills to cut through the cookies he was making. He also loved using the mini tongs from the kitchen section to pick up his delicious cookies. 

My 10 month old’s attention steered away from the playdough and to a whole another level – self identity. Again in the party section I discovered gold paper plates which my 10 month old decided to investigate. He was amazed to see they were reflective – which he found super interesting!! In the kitchen section I found mini colanders which he also enjoyed, developing his cause and effect awareness to take it in and out of the bowl! 

Using loose parts – my boys turned a simple playdough experience into a fun filled afternoon of learning together.

Photos by Rhiannon Seres