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Playdough and stick shapes is a simple, hands-on way for toddlers and preschoolers to explore shape and space using two household craft staples. All it takes is a bit of playdough and a handful of sticks to spark early math thinking.
At N Family School, we love hands-on math experiences like this, where children get to build and test ideas with their own hands instead of just watching from the sidelines.
Playdough (store-bought or homemade)
Popsicle sticks or craft sticks (sticks collected outdoors work too)
This activity works well from around 18 months through the preschool years. Younger children enjoy watching and imitating as you build shapes, while older toddlers and preschoolers can start pressing the sticks into the dough and building shapes themselves.
Building shapes with playdough and sticks helps children explore shape and space in a hands-on way, building early math vocabulary and critical thinking skills. Pressing sticks into dough and shaping the pieces also builds fine motor strength and hand-eye coordination, skills children will lean on well beyond this activity.
Set up a small area, like a table, with a bit of playdough and a handful of sticks for your child to explore.
Show your child how to use the sticks and dough together to build shapes. For example, roll four small balls of playdough and place one at each corner of an imaginary square, then press a stick between each pair to form the sides.
Let your child take over from there, pressing sticks into the dough to build their own shapes. Younger children may prefer to watch and copy what you're doing first, so sit facing them and model the steps with your own playdough and sticks before handing them their own set.
Hands-on math experiences like this are part of what makes our Lab such a favorite spot in our classrooms at N Family School. Building shapes with real materials gives children an early, tactile understanding of geometry and spatial reasoning, the same thinking skills this activity builds at your kitchen table.
Curious what hands-on math looks like for young children? Inquire today to learn more about N Family School.
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