Play dough Clare Walters Play dough is lovely to squish and squeeze, and fun to model. Your child can use it from around two years, but make sure it doesn't get eaten! You can either make your own or buy it.

What you can do with dough

Wriggly snakes - roll sections of dough on a board to make long sausages. Press two holes at one end for eyes and bend your 'snake' into a wriggly shape.

Prints - use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a large flat circle, then get your child to press his hands on it to make a print. Other prints you can try include a comb, fork or sieve, although make sure it's an old one as it will be almost impossible to clean afterwards.

Teatime - have a pretend tea party with 'cakes' made from chunks of dough moulded into round shapes with little 'cherries' on top.

Shapes and patterns - use upturned plastic beakers, egg cups or food storage boxes to press out shapes from a piece of rolled-out dough. Use these to make simple patterns, such as circle, square, circle, square.

Mix different colours of dough together to make new colours

Colour change - mix different colours of dough together to make new colours. Red and yellow will make orange; red and blue, purple; and blue and yellow, green.

Do-it-yourself dough - mix together two cups of flour, one cup of salt, one cup of water and two tablespoons of cooking oil. Add food colouring as desired. It's that simple!

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