Play Dough and Tactile Play

When my T. was a little girl, she could entertain herself for hours with Play Doh.  She's also my sensory girl~  some kids do love Play Doh and other types of tactile sensory play.  There are all kinds of ways to use Play Doh:

-You can just have kids create what they want.  How cool are these 2 creations??  2 of my 3rd grade boys made these; they had a great time creating them, and were so proud of how they turned out:

C's Play Doh shark creation~

B's Play Doh whale creation~

-You can embed different items in the Play Doh and have the kids find them and dig them out.   Pony beads and Therapy putty charms are some of my fave things to use for this; putty charms can be found at the Therapy Shoppe web site:  http://www.therapyshoppe.com/category/P3086-therapy-putty-charms-sensory-toys-tools-special-needs

-Buy some birthday candle holders and some candles; push the candle holders into the playdough and add the candles for some fine motor precision.

Credit to Miss Denise for this fun idea!

-Roll it out like a snake and cut it into pieces with a scissors to work on cutting skills

-Press it out flat with hands or roll it flat with a rolling pin and cut long strips with a scissors, or use cookie cutters and stampers to cut out and stamp shapes into it

-I kept several of my own kids' old Play Dough sets that are fun for kids to play with, too

Of course you don't have to use just playdough- you can play with theraputty, Cra-Z-Sand, rice, dried beans, pasta, water, shaving cream, karo syrup and food coloring, or make make your own recipes for tactile play (see my post for "messy play" here:  http://fabulousfriendsot.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-tactile-system-and-some-messy-play.html)

Cra-Z-Sand has been a real hit with students lately!
I have sea creature putty charms embedded in this~