Fine Motor Playdough Activities:
OT Mom's Guide To Stronger Hands & Better Handwriting

Did you know that a simple ball of playdough can help your child develop better handwriting? Fine motor playdough activities are a great way to develop the hand strength and finger dexterity your child needs for better pencil control and scissor cutting skills.

Find out how this favorite childhood toy can help kids of all ages to develop their fine motor skills!

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Key Takeaways For Busy Parents:

  • Play With A Purpose: Playdough is not just a toy, it is a tool used by occupational therapists worldwide to strengthen hand and finger muscles. 
  • Focus On The "Tripod" Fingers: Many of the activities below witll help your child strengthen the use of the thumb, index and middle fingers - used in a "tripod" pencil grasp. 
  • Adaptable For All Ages: fine motor playdough activities can be used by kids from toddler age to early elementary and beyond. Even adults benefit! 

Don't have playdough? Make your own in less than 30 minutes! Try my homemade cooked playdough recipe for a long-lasting, non-sticky playdough!

playdough activities for fine motor skills

Playdough Exercises for Scissor Skills

Snipping playdough helps your child master the grasp-release motion of the scissors. 

Have your child roll out long playdough sausages with both hands and then snip the sausages into small pieces. This helps them master opening and closing the scissors effectively.

Make sure your child is using the correct scissor grasp, in order to get the most out of the activity. Remember to ensure your left-handed child is using left handed scissors!

snipping playdough to develop scissor skillsSnipping playdough sausages

Add the snipped playdough to a make-believe pizza, or or have your child roll it into balls with the fingers (see below).

If your child needs more practice getting the grasp-release motion with scissors, then get the tips and techniques you need in my Scissor Skills series.

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Playdough Hand Strengthening Exercises

These playdough activities for hand strength are simple but effective:

  • Hand stretches: Put the fingers and thumb together in the center of a blob of playdough and have your child stretch the fingers and thumb apart. After stretching out all the blobs, have your child squish each stretched shape back into a blob. My kids love to pretend that these stretched shapes are animal tracks! It's a great way to spark the imagination and make the activity more engaging.
  • Squashing all the bits of playdough together at the end of the activity is also great for overall hand strengthening.
  • If you have a garlic press (with handles, like this one#Ad), then let your child squeeze out some playdough "hair" or "grass". The hand muscles will get a good workout!
use playdough to help strengthen your child's handsStretching out the playdough
squashing playdough is a great hand strengthening activitySquashing up the playdough

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Playdough Finger Exercises

Manipulating playdough with the fingers improves finger dexterity and gets the fingers ready for handwriting! You may be wondering how to improve pencil grip with playdough - these playdough exercises focus on the tripod fingers - the thumb, index and middle fingers - that are used for a tripod pencil grip.

First, help your child isolate the thumb, index and middle fingers (the tripod fingers) by tucking a piece of paper under the ring and little fingers of the dominant hand.

This provides stability to the ulnar side of the hand to enable the thumb, index and middle fingers to move freely.

isolating the tripod fingers and getting ulnar stabilityThe tripod fingers

Now use the tripod fingers for the following fine motor playdough activities:

 - Playdough Pinch Pots

Roll the dough into a palm-sized ball, insert the thumb into the center and use the index and middle fingers to pinch all around, forming a pot.

make a pinch pot with playdough as a fine motor activityMaking a pinch pot

 - Rolling Small Sausages and Small Balls

Use the tripod fingers to roll out small sausages with a back and forth movement of the fingers. Small balls can be formed with a rolling movement of the fingers.

Sausages may be easier than balls at first.

rolling small playdough sausages with the fingers for a fine motor activityRolling small sausages

Rolling out small balls of playdough with 3 fingers can be tricky for children who struggle with fine motor skills, so offer lots of encouragement and praise.

Try rolling the balls yourself with your non-dominant hand (which is usually less skilled than your dominant hand) - you might be surprised at how tricky it is! It gives you an appreciation of how tricky this activity can be!

rolling small playdough balls for fine motor skillsRolling small balls with the fingers

These are great pre-writing activities that can strengthen hand muscles for writing.

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Get Creative With Younger Kids

Younger kids love using their imagination, so encourage them to get creative with the playdough.

A simple construction of a pinchpot with small balls inside, could be a dragon's nest with eggs, a bird's nest, an Easter basket, or a bowl of peas!

Use whatever theme your child is currently interested in!

using playdough for fine motor skillsCreating a creature!
make a playdough nest with eggs for fine motor skillsWhich creature made this nest?!

Get creative with a food theme:

  • Use the techniques above to create playdough pizzas, cupcakes and even “birthday cakes”.
  • Have your child tell you what the different pieces of playdough represent, and make your own for a fun competition - the Great Playdough Bake-Off or Playdough Masterchef!!

For very young children, check out my toddler playdough activities for inspiration.

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Fine Motor Playdough Activities With Older Kids

Most older kids still secretly love playdough activities, but may need some encouragement to take part!

Here are some tips I have found useful:

  • Use colorful modeling clay#Ad, rather than a large blob of homemade playdough. This feels more mature and the creations hold their shape better. You can also add more details with modeling clay.

  • Encourage your child to use the fingers - not the hands - for rolling the little balls and sausages needed for their design. Using the hands to roll balls seems easier, but we want the fingers to get the workout.
seasonal playdough activitiesMore detailed creations for older kids
  • Call them “exercises” and incorporate them into a daily routine, like rolling 10 balls or sausages before handwriting practice. Older kids benefit from understanding the purpose of an activity - that this is a fun way to strengthen fingers for writing - and having it as part of their routine.
  • Consider getting some air dry modeling clay#Ad if your child enjoys fine motor playdough activities and wants to keep their creations!


More Fine Motor Resources!

These playdough activities for fine motor skills are just a sample of the many photographed activities in my Fine Motor e-book.

My comprehensive activity resource book is affordable and ideal for parents, teachers and therapists!


Get Your Fine Motor Activities Now!
fine motor activities for kids resource downloadGet all my fine motor activities in one accessible download that you can refer to over and over again!


From snipping sausages to rolling tiny balls, these simple playdough exercises help support your child's fine motor development in a playful way. 

playdough activities for fine motor skills

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