Making DIY resources is a great way to get creative and the perfect use for that recycling stash we all have put away for a rainy day. In this post I'll give you step by step instructions to create cheap and easy to make DIY playdough stampers your kids will love. An added bonus is they only take a few minutes to make.
I must confess I probably spend far too much time browsing toy shops on Instagram and online, so I spend quite a few hours window shopping and admiring lots of gorgeous toys and resources. I love all the fancy wooden playdough stampers that are available like these ones from The Creative Toy Shop, Let Them Play and the amazing designs available at Etsy. While I'm a huge fan of wooden toys, sometimes we just don't have the extra cash to splash around on new purchases, so when I work out a way to make essentially the same thing for much cheaper, I'm totally going to give it a go. The great thing is the kids didn't even know the difference and were just as happy with the DIY version.
DEVELOPMENTAL BENEFITS OF PLAYDOUGH
Squishing, squeezing, rolling, poking, pulling and cutting playdough is a great way for children to get tactile sensory input and develop fine motor skills. Adding playdough stamps to a playdough invitation to play provides even more opportunities for children to develop their fine motor skills. Picking up and manipulating the stamps uses pincer grip and improves dexterity. Pushing the stamps into the playdough to leave an imprint helps increase hand strengthening. All of these fine movements will help build hand and finger muscles which will be needed for writing later on. Using stamps also helps with hand/eye co-ordination, concentration and visual reasoning.
SUPLLIES NEEDED TO MAKE DIY PLAYDOUGH STAMPS
- Scissors
- Thick cardboard
- Wood craft embellishments
- Hot glue gun & hot glue sticks
To make our playdough stamps I used some thick corflute cardboard which I'd saved from some packaging, my trusty hot glue gun and some laser cut wood pieces. We made leaf playdough stamps, however you can make them in any design you like, even letters and numbers. Our DIY playdough stamps only ended up costing me $2 to make as we had all the items needed except for the wood craft embellishments. However, even if you need to buy some of these items, they still end up being a cheap alternative to store bought wooden stamps.
Hot glue guns and refill glue sticks can usually be found at craft stores or dollar stores for only a few dollars and they're definitely a worthy investment for home, especially if you want to make other DIY resources. Laser cut wood stencils, also known as wooden scrapbook embellishments, are easy to find at dollar stores, craft stores or can be bought in bulk online at Amazon or Etsy. They're available in all different themes in both solid pieces and more intricate designs with cut outs. So you can make lots and lots of playdough stamps in different designs, for only a few dollars.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN DIY PLAYDOUGH STAMPS
1. Space out the wood shapes onto the cardboard to determine where you'll glue them before getting the hot glue gun ready. Leave enough space between each so that you can cut them out afterwards into big enough sized stamps that are easy for kids to hold.
2. Hot glue gun each wood piece down. Try not to apply too much excess glue as it will run out the sides of the wood {particularly the ones with cut outs}. If you do end up with excess glue it can be removed {I was able to do this quite easily with a skewer}. If you want the stamps to make deep imprints you could glue two of each wood piece together then glue them to the cardboard so they're twice as thick. *If you're using letters or numbers remember to glue them on backwards so that they show in the correct direction when stamped.
3. Cut the cardboard into pieces so each stencil is a separate stamp {once the glue has cooled down}.
4. Set up the stamps with some playdough and have fun creating! Watch the video below to see how the girls got creative with our stamps.
The girls loved playing with our leaf playdough stamps and were both able to easily use them to create imprints. You can see in the video and photo below some bits of dough does occasionally get caught in the crevices of the stencils, however it's easy to remove with a skewer or toothpick. Our stamps are still good to go after a few plays, however if you're worried the cardboard may deteriorate over time you could use wood slices instead {even branch offcuts} and wood glue.
MORE PLAYDOUGH FUN
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