Are your kids learning about pond life or frogs? Your little learners will absolutely love this frog pond play dough activity! This play dough activity is the perfect addition to a frog unit or a pond life study in your classroom. Your Preschool or Pre-K students will have a blast exploring and creating with this hands-on frog theme play dough activity!
Frog Pond Play Dough
On the surface, play dough may look like messy play, but playing with dough has tons of educational benefits!
When you provide your little learners with opportunities to use play dough daily, they’ll develop important creativity and fine motor skills in a fun and playful way. Just rolling dough and pressing cookie cutters into dough also has many educational benefits for young children. You can find a list of how playing with play dough supports academic learning at the end of this post.
Frog Theme Play Dough Supplies
Here are some supplies you may choose to use when setting up a fun and inviting frog pond play dough invitation in your own classroom.
- Play Dough (here’s our favorite homemade playdough recipe)
- Rolling Pins
- Frog Cookie Cutters
- Sticks
- Chip and Dip Tray
- Gems (dollar store)
- Frogs (dollar store)
These are just suggestions, you can use whatever supplies you prefer or have available.
Frog Pond Set Up
First, you’ll want to set up your frog pond play dough invitation on a chip and dip tray, you can usually find chip and dip trays like the one shown here at your local dollar store. These trays are visually appealing, but you can use any tray or flat container you have available.
Play dough invitations are designed to be open-ended experiences, there are no right or wrong ways to use the materials. Get started by inviting your little learners to explore the materials on the tray.
Check out this research-based, playful learning unit in our curriculum shop!
Pond Theme Bundle
12 of our most popular pond theme resources, including math, literacy, and science activities! Make learning fun with these hands-on resources
As your kids begin to build and create with the play dough and materials on the tray, their creativity and imaginations will begin to take over. When young children are engaged in activities that invite them to be creative and use their imaginations, their attention spans are being expanded naturally. Think about how much your kids can benefit from increased attention spans!
Can Play Dough Be Educational?
What should you do if your kids want to use some of the materials and not others, or if they want to use them all? The answer is easy, let them choose!
Playing with dough should be an open-ended activity with no set expectations. If your kids don’t want to use the sticks or gems in the dough, no problem. It’s all about the process of creating with the materials, rather than making Pinterest perfect frogs or ponds. Let your kids choose what to do with the dough and materials, you’ll be surprised at how creative they can be when given a chance!
