Marine Life Playdough Puzzle

Playdough is always a good idea in our home, and you just can’t go wrong combining playdough with any type of animal figurines.

Playdough is a great pre-writing activity. Squishing, rolling, pressing, molding and all other play dough movements strengthen the finger muscles that will be used for fine motor movements, such as holding a pencil and using scissors. It also allows the child to use imagination and express creativity, while fostering language development as the child is exposed to the different elements on the tray.

For this activity I used marine life figurines because they stamp really well on the playdough but feel free to use any figurines you have. You can also adapt it to make an animal footprint puzzle.

After my daughter solved the puzzle we made playdough balls, flattened them using her mini rolling pin and used the sea animals to make new shapes.

This type of activity helps: 

– refine fine motor skills

– strengthen hand and finger muscles

– sharpen hand-eye coordination

– foster vocabulary development

Cleaning up is part of the learning process, so make sure to encourage your child to tidy up after they finish playing. Model how to do it until your child feels confident enough to initiate the tidying up process independently.