Autumn Play-dough Tray: Invitation to Create is a simple and easy way to spark your childs’ creativity. I’ve put together this simple tray full of nature finds we’ve found and gathered together with the kids on our daily outdoor walk. It was fun to see them run around, find something they felt was beautiful and worth to add to our tray and bring it over to show me. I loved that they were discovering the little things outdoors and noticing colors, shapes, objects, even patterns on the leaves and so much more!
Once we’ve had plenty of these little treasures, I’ve placed them into a sectioned tray and added play-dough in the middle. Kids loved to see everything they’ve gathered in front of them and they couldn’t wait to get to work! I could see their creativity sparking even before I placed the tray onto their little work table! 🙂
Read below to see how simple it is to set up and what wonderful areas of child’s’ development are improved!
More Play-dough activities you’ll love
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Materials For autumn play-dough tray: invitation to create:
- Tray with sections
- Play-dough (I’ve linked our favorite brand!)
- Nature finds (acorns, sticks, pine needles, pine cones, leaves, etc.)
Instructions:
- Lay out everything onto the tray so the child can visually see all of the elements he’s/she’s able to create with. That’s it!
What is my child learning and improving?
- Creativity (kids are amazing creators, just give them the materials and they’ll able to exercise and use their imagination and creativity to come up with something unique and build something beautiful!)
- Fine/small motor skills (building with play-dough, pinching, picking with fingers, working those upper arms and elbows)
- Nature (talk to your kids about the different “nature finds” they can use. Where do acorns come from? Open one up to see what’s inside! What color are the leaves? What type of trees does each one come from? And so on.
Free play is key for childs’ creativity, but communication is key for their broadened understanding of the world!
Grab some of these outdoor nature finds and make this autumn play-dough tray: invitation to create!
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