What makes playing with clay the best kids' indoor game?

Introduced as a wallpaper cleaner, clay has now gained its importance as an educational toy. Most kids find its moulding attribute inviting and explore it. They appeal to your senses instinctively. They poke it, pick it, punch it, squeeze it, roll it, pile it, and do whatever excites them. These activities lead to their physical and emotional development.

Their actions get an immediate response as the clay changes shapes. It may mean very little to us, but for kids, these changes are magical. They naturally get fascinated, motivated, and empowered to experiment. Besides this, there are several reasons a modelling clay makes the perfect indoor game:

Improves motor skills:A large part of playing with clay involves moulding its shape. When kids engage in squishing, rolling, or flattening the dough, they develop their tiny muscles. It helps them strengthen their grasp and moving abilities. They learn to create new shapes by giving them different materials like cookie cutters, rolling pins, shapers, etc. It develops their agility, handwriting, hand-eye coordination, and athletism.

Enhances creativity:Most open-ended toys are designed to encourage imaginary play. However,not all of them are satisfactory as they limit the kids with a particular theme. This is not the case with clay for kids. It allows building something new entirely from scratch. It works like drawing but is better owing to the three-dimensional result. Kids get to experiment with different coloured doughs and create anything they like.

Therapeutic:The clay provides a natural sensory relaxation. It is not too hard and nor too soft. Its squishy nature makes it ideal for creating new things without stress. Even if something does not work out, you can remould it. This eliminates the pressure and leads to a positiveexperience. Most children get excited by how it reacts than their failures. So, it is a fun learning activity without any pressure.

Increases playtime: Once the kids engage with play dough, they stay busy for a couple of hours. That is the kind of impact the mouldable toy has. It is simple yet fascinating in a unique way that increases their physical and interactive playtime. This is an excellent chance to reduce screen time. Although it does create a mess, let them do it freely. It is worth cleaning up if it means they learn and enjoy. You can also involve your kids in tidying up.

Promotes concentration:Playing with clay is a versatile activity. There is no right and wrong. Hence, it opens up opportunities for growth and imagination without constraints. As a result, kids concentrate better. They try to find solutions voluntarily if things do not go as planned. They also learn about trial and error and how it is a natural process of learning. Once they like the output, encourage them by showcasing their creations.

Once they get your appraisal, they invest in doing more clay art. The holistic growth that clay toys provide makes it one of the best kids' indoor games.