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Home » activities » Homemade Play Dough Puzzle

Homemade Play Dough Puzzle

I make homemade play dough with my children every now and then (and it lasts a LONG time in the fridge in between when we are playing with it). They get bored with just playing with the dough, though, so I created a puzzle from dough that we would be throwing out anyway.

 

You could use store bought play dough as well for this.  (Note: If you make homemade play dough, add a little cinnamon or nutmeg to add a scent to the experience.)

How we made our Play Dough Puzzle:

1) Flatten a ball of play dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Using cookie cutters, punch out shapes or objects.
2) Carefully remove the punched out pieces of dough from each cutter and lay them on a towel or the counter to dry completely. This may take a couple of days depending on the humidity in your home.

 

3) When the “puzzle pieces” are dry, they are ready for use!

 

I placed the play dough puzzle on a plate and you could even glue it onto a paper plate for better stability. My child then tried to match each puzzle piece with its matching space in the puzzle.

 

(To add more fun, your child could paint the pieces before you play.)

Optional: You could cut small lengths (maybe an inch long) of ribbon and, while the play dough puzzle pieces are still moist, use a chop stick or butter knife to press in an end of the ribbon into each piece so that when the pieces dry they have a little handle.

This can be added using glue when the pieces are dry as well.

 

5) If desired, you can add some literacy to the experience: make traced cards with each object’s title to create a word-association extension activity.

  • Cut construction paper into enough small rectangles so that each puzzle piece has its own card.
  • On each rectangle, place one puzzle piece and trace around it.
  • Below each tracing, label the item so your child is exposed to print and vocabulary as well.

 

6) Place the puzzle and word-cards on a level surface and play with your child. I started with the pieces on their respective word-cards so I could point to the word and say its name while my child picked up the piece to place it in the puzzle.

You can reverse the game as well and start with the pieces in the puzzle-it is a fine motor exercise for little fingers and bigger fingers alike to remove the pieces from the puzzle. Even the small cutout pieces and the word-cards are their own puzzle.

This is homemade fun for preschool or toddlers! If the homemade playdough puzzle falls and breaks it can be repaired with glue…or thrown away since it was free anyway. (More of an excuse to make another.)


What is your child’s favorite puzzle right now?

Make a homemade playdough puzzle. A DIY puzzle that uses play dough for the puzzle and pieces.

For more homemade play dough fun check out this post:
Linked up at:
My Bored Toddler

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March 4, 2013 by Jaimi Erickson 15 Comments Filed Under: activities Tagged With: crafty, DIY, DIY toys, fine motor, homemade, playdough, preschool, puzzles, toddlers

Comments

  1. My Bored Toddler says

    May 12, 2015 at 4:08 am

    My daughter saw me looking at this post and has already requested that we do this! Great idea! Thanks for sharing on #ToddlerFunFriday

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      May 13, 2015 at 6:16 pm

      That is the best comment I could read! Thanks for hosting the link up and for stopping over.

      Reply
  2. Ali Gilbert says

    May 10, 2015 at 12:50 am

    This is such a great idea! Totally doing this with my toddler! Thanks for linking up on Toddler Fun Friday!

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      May 13, 2015 at 6:15 pm

      Thanks so much for stopping by to check it out. It's a favorite with my kids when they are and were toddlers. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Tickle Fingers says

    May 9, 2015 at 2:09 pm

    Great idea – I'm always throwing out home-made play dough. #ToddlerFunFriday

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      May 13, 2015 at 6:15 pm

      Thanks for stopping by! This activity definitely gives that "old" play dough a bit more life.

      Reply
  4. Purnima Aiyar says

    July 24, 2014 at 4:20 am

    Wow..going to try this today..you have some interesting ideas to keep kids engaged..so nice to come across people like you..:-)

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      August 4, 2014 at 8:54 pm

      Thank you, Purnima! That is so sweet of you to say. I am glad you found this blog. Enjoy! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Quinn Johnson says

    April 26, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    Awesome idea i did not even imagine that they would have so much fun with this. THANK YOU

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      April 28, 2014 at 10:59 am

      Quinn, that is so nice to know! My kids amaze me with how much they like the simple activities, but it makes my job a little easier. 🙂 Glad your child enjoyed it too. Take care!

      Reply
  6. Kirstylee says

    March 4, 2013 at 10:05 pm

    I love this activity! I never would have thought to do this, but it would be so fun. Thanks for the idea.

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      March 6, 2013 at 4:19 pm

      Thanks, Kirstylee! Have fun with it.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 20+ Hands-On Learning Ideas Using Playdough says:
    April 6, 2017 at 8:52 am

    […] a hard home-made playdough puzzle and let your little one learn about shape recognition. They can help with making it […]

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  2. Fine Motor Play with Pasta and Playdough - The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide says:
    January 24, 2016 at 3:42 pm

    […] had some old-ish homemade play dough in the fridge and this is the second of three ways (here is the first) that I thought of to use it up-create pasta imprints in the dough with dry noodles to engage in […]

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  3. DIY Car Wash Toy for Kids - The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide says:
    August 31, 2015 at 12:28 pm

    […] out the list Kids Activities Blog put together.  More Homemade Activities for Kids: Homemade Play Dough Puzzle Learning Letters and Shapes with Stickers ©2011-2014 The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival […]

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