Play Dough – Bottles Tops and Straws

It is always fun to watch and see what kids will come up with when you give them simple props to promote play in an open-ended and unstructured way.

Here I have set up our activity table with play dough, bottle tops and straws to inspire the imagination and creativity.

This entertained the kids for hours!

What you will need? 

You will need three main materials, bottle tops, straws and play dough; we have used our party play dough for this activity (see recipe here).

I have cut the straws into different lengths and I also introduced the rolling pin as requested by my girls during play.

Let’s Play 

Working those fine motor skills;  Little Miss 19 months (at the time) exploring the materials by putting the straws into the play dough and using the bottle tops as cookie cutters.

Let’s Create 

Miss 4 taking on the role as a pancake maker and using the bottle tops as cookie cutters to make pancake stacks.

Let’s Explore 

Miss 5 constructed different creations and also had fun balancing a bottle top on of a straw.  It took a bit of patience and perseverance but she managed to balance there.

Let’s Learn 

The play dough was also used for joining the straws together to help make their creations more stable.  It was also used for making cream biscuits by squashing the play dough between two bottles tops.  I just love the imagination!

Learning Opportunities: 

• Self-expression
• Imagination and creativity
• Building and strengthening fine motor skills
• Eye and hand coordination
• Problem solving – using play dough to join parts together
• Social interactions