Crazy Family Hairdos with Playdough
Parent and child create funny hairstyles and facial hair for family member pictures using rolled playdough strips. The agent coaches the parent to observe fine motor control, bilateral coordination, and hand strength development while fostering creativity and family connection.
Opens a guided voice session in TogetherTime.
What you'll need
Playdough in various colors, pictures of family members (printed or on a tablet/phone), flat surface for rolling playdough. Child should be seated comfortably with good posture for fine motor work.
How it works
- 1~45s
Let's start by choosing which family member gets the first crazy hairdo! Show your child the pictures and ask which color hair would look funniest on someone. Now invite your child to roll the playdough between their hands or on the table to make strips. Watch how they approaches this — does your child use both hands together? Are the strips becoming long and even, or are they breaking? Tell me what you notice about their rolling technique.
Watch for: Child uses both hands together in coordinated motion to roll playdough strips, showing integrated bilateral movement.
- 2~50s
Now let's get creative! Ask your child to make some long strips for hair and some short strips for mustaches or beards. Watch how they controls the length — does your child stop rolling at the right moment? Can they make both very long and very short strips intentionally? Notice the finger and hand pressure your child uses to create these different lengths without breaking the playdough.
Watch for: Child demonstrates appropriate hand and finger strength to roll playdough to desired lengths without over-compressing or breaking it.
- 3~60s
Time for the fun part — applying our playdough creations! Ask your child to pick up the strips and place them on the family pictures to create hilarious hairstyles and facial hair. Watch closely as they works — does your child use a precise pincer grasp to pick up thin strips? How carefully does they position them? This is where we see the fine motor control that relates to using scissors and other tools.
Watch for: Child demonstrates precise finger control and dexterity when manipulating small playdough strips, showing skills parallel to scissor use.