3 activited that include plastiline

Kids usually love to play with plasticine. The bright colours, the squish, the endless shapes… It’s all very inviting. But from a child-development point of view, plasticine is doing something much deeper:

Plasticine, which is usually firmer and more resistant than playdough, makes little hands work just a bit harder; quietly training hand strength, fine motor control, focus, planning, and even early literacy and numeracy skills.

Recent research shows that activities using playdough, clay, or plasticine can significantly improve fine motor skills in early childhood, including cutting, colouring, tracing letters, and shaping objects. [1][2] In turn, fine motor skills are moderately and reliably linked to children’s reading, writing, mathematics, and broader cognitive development. [3][4]

Below are three ways we love using plasticine.

Why plasticine is such a powerful “brain tool”

Fine motor skills involve the small muscles of the hands and fingers plus hand–eye coordination. These skills support tasks like:

• holding a pencil,

• buttoning clothes,

• manipulating math manipulatives, and

• tracing or writing letters and numbers. [1][5]

Multiple recent reviews show that fine motor development is not just “nice to have”—it’s tied to:

• early reading and writing,

• numeracy, and

• cognitive skills such as working memory and executive functions (planning, inhibition, flexibility). [3][4][7]

So when kids squeeze, roll, and shape plasticine, they’re not just “keeping busy”. They’re building foundational skills that connect directly to learning.

Why plasticine instead of softer playdough?

Both are great. Research using playdough shows clear improvements in fine motor skills in early childhood. [2] Plasticine, however, is typically:

• denser and more resistant, requiring more finger strength and sustained effort, and

• less likely to collapse when building small, detailed forms, which supports more complex, goal-directed projects (think letters, miniature models, detailed 3D pictures).

An experimental study comparing plasticine and clay play in young children found that both materials improved fine motor performance (cutting, colouring, tracing letters, and object-making), and highlighted how these materials help children regulate finger muscle strength—pressing with the right amount of force. [1] That graded force is exactly what kids need later when writing with pencils or using tools.

So in practice:

• Playdough is fantastic for exploration, big shapes, and quick, soft manipulation.

• Plasticine shines when you want more resistance (hand strengthening), finer detail, and projects that hold their shape longer—like dioramas, 3D “paintings”, or crisp letters and numbers.

3 ways to use plastiline

1. Sculptures and dioramas: small hands, big stories

What it looks like

Set out some plasticine, a piece of cardboard or a little box, and invite your child to “build a tiny world.”

They might make:

• a jungle with snakes and tigers,

• a space scene with planets and rockets, or

• a mini version of the playground or their favourite show.

Suddenly the cardboard turns into a stage, and the plasticine becomes the cast.

What’s happening for your child

• Stronger, steadier hands

• Planning without a worksheet
  As they build their tiny world, kids make all kinds of choices—what to add, where to put it, and how to fix it when it doesn’t work. Those small decisions are gentle practice for the planning and problem-solving they’ll use at school and in daily life
• Feelings and stories in 3D
  A diorama gives children a way to show what matters to them—friends, worries, favourite places—without needing the perfect words. Art and craft activities like these are linked with better mood and a stronger sense that life is meaningful, even in large research studies with adults. [6] For kids, it’s an easy, safe way to say, “This is my world.”

Easy ideas for home or classroom

• “Can you make a tiny park/playground/farm?”

• “Let’s make the ocean and choose what lives there.”

• “Build your favourite scene from this story we just read.”

In class, use dioramas to show a moment from a book, a community scene, or even a science topic (habitats, planets, life cycles).

2. “3D painting”: plasticine as squishy paint

What it looks like

Spread out cardboard, canvas, or thick paper. Show your child how to:

• press plasticine flat to make a colourful background,

• roll little pieces and stick them on top,

• blend and smudge colours together with their fingers, and

• add raised lines, spirals, or dots for extra “pop”.

It’s like painting, but the picture gently pops off the page.

What’s happening for your child

• Two hands working together
  One hand usually holds the cardboard still while the other places and smooths the plasticine. That kind of two-hand teamwork, plus eye–hand coordination, is a big part of fine motor development. [1][2]
  Movements that feel like early writing practice
  When children make thin lines, little curves, and controlled dots with plasticine, they’re rehearsing movements that are very similar to those used in handwriting—just in a much more playful way. 
• Calm through repetition
  Rolling, pressing, and smoothing can be wonderfully calming for many kids.
• Joy and pride in making something
  For children, that sense of, “I made this!” is powerful for confidence and emotional wellbeing.

Easy ideas for home or classroom

• Invite kids who dislike drawing: “Instead of drawing a tree, can you build one on the page?”

• Ask them to show different textures: rough bark, smooth water, fluffy clouds, scratchy grass.

• Turn 3D paintings into “touch and tell” pictures: children can describe what each part feels like as well as what it looks like.

• In class, use 3D plasticine pictures as covers for stories, science posters, or “all about me” projects.

3. Forming letters and numbers: plasticine as a literacy buddy

What it looks like

Instead of only tracing letters and numbers with a pencil, children:

• roll plasticine into long “snakes”,

• bend them into letter or number shapes on a mat or card, and

• sometimes trace over the finished shape with a finger.

You end up with bumpy, colourful letters and numbers that kids want to touch.

Why this matters for learning

• Hands getting ready for pencil work
  When kids build letters and numbers with plasticine, they are strengthening the same muscles and control they’ll need for writing later on.

• Learning with eyes, ears, and hands together
  When a child makes a letter, they can:
  • see its shape,

  • feel its bumps and curves,

  • move their hand along the path, and

  • say the sound or number name out loud.

• Maths you can hold
  Building numbers, making “sets” (like five plasticine apples), or modelling simple equations (three apples + two more) gives children a very concrete way to explore quantity.

Easy ideas for home or classroom

• Print or draw big bubble letters and numbers. Invite children to “dress” them with plasticine snakes.

• Start with letters that are meaningful: their name, a sibling’s name, or a favourite word (“DOG”, “CAT”, “SUN”).

• Ask, “Can you build the number of people in our family?” or “How many kids are here today? Let’s build that number.”

• For older children, use plasticine to build math symbols (+, −, ×, =) and small arrays (like a 3 × 4 grid of dots) to show multiplication in a tactile way.

References

1. Sutapa, P., Suharjana, S., Ndayisenga, J., & Salleh, M. (2021). Improving of fine motor skills through plasticine playing and clay in early childhood. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 12(7), 2427–2436. https://www.tojqi.net/index.php/journal/article/view/4115 
2. Darizal, D., Sutapa, P., Suhartini, B., Sabillah, M. I., & Annasai, F. (2023). The effect of playdough play on early childhood fine motor improvement in Yogyakarta National Kindergarten. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis, 6(3), 879–883. https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmra/v6-i3-04 
3. Li, Y., Wu, X., Ye, D., Zuo, J., & Liu, L. (2025). Research progress on the relationship between fine motor skills and academic ability in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 6, 1386967. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1386967 
4. Suggate, S. P., Karle, V. L., Kipfelsberger, T., & Stoeger, H. (2025). Keep the hands in mind: A meta-analysis of correlations between fine motor skills and reading, writing, mathematics, and cognitive development in children and adolescents. Educational Research Review, 49, 100748.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2025.100748 
5. Bosgraaf, L., Spreen, M., Pattiselanno, K., & van Hooren, S. (2024). Affect regulating art therapy for children and adolescents experiencing psychosocial problems. International Journal of Art Therapy, 29(2), 88–96.  https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2023.2208198
6. Keyes, H., Gradidge, S., Forwood, S. E., Gibson, N., Harvey, A., Kis, E., Mutsatsa, K., Ownsworth, R., Roeloffs, S., & Zawisza, M. (2024). Creating arts and crafting positively predicts subjective wellbeing. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1417997.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1417997
7. Kazandjian, N., Harandian, K., Dufour, M.-M., Chichinina, E. A., Desmurget, M., & Pagani, L. S. (2025). Tracing the cognitive–motor connection: Prospective-longitudinal associations between early parent–toddler literacy activities and subsequent gross motor skills at school entry. Children, 12(11), 1431. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12111431