Materials:

1 metal cookie sheet or plastic placemat to protect your table
1 can of play dough, any color

Instructions:

Split the can of play dough with your child. Take just a small amount at first. Teach your child how to roll the play dough out into a long snakelike coil. This will take some practice at first. Your child will have to learn how to apply enough pressure as s/he rolls to make the piece of dough get longer and thinner. This is good practice for fine and gross motor skills for their arms, wrists, hands and fingers.

After your child can make the coils, help your child turn those coils into the letters of his or her name. Please use only a capital letter for their first letter. After that use lowercase letters for the rest of it. They always like to see their name in print. Once you have used the coils to make their name, let them take their finger and trace those play dough letters. This step will appeal to their tactile sense. In learning, you always want to use as many of their senses as possible. ALWAYS have them start tracing from the top of each letter or at the 2:00 position of the circle letters.

After you have done their name, make other letters they may know before you go to letters they may not know and on to words. You can repeat this activity frequently for several years as they learn letters and then words.

When your child is able, let him/her start making the letters themselves with the coils. They will love showing you how they can do that.